Hell and Heaven Revised
by CrystalDreams72
Summary: Okay here is the Hell and Heaven Revision. All new posts for the story will be posted here after I am finished revising everything that I have so far. Story about Baird and OC. Rated M for Smut, Violence, and Language. Lots of Language BTW. R
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gears of War, nor do I own any characters except for Ezra Morg. **

**Author's Note: Okay I know everyone is wondering that there was an update but no new chapter. I was just going back and spacing the dialogue. And changing a few things. I know what you guys are thinking... How many times and I going to revise this story before I just go ahead and just finish it? My answer is as many times as I want. I have grown a bit with my writing, and when I reading through this I couldn't help but make the appropriate edits as I went. So I felt that it would only be doing the story justice if I posted those edits as I read through it. Also there are things that has changed about me as a person that if I see something that I must change that is sort of major I will let you know in the AN. **

**Also I would like to point out that I went back and read some of my old emails from people, and have also read some of the reviews again. There was something I guess I never made clear when I trying to relay my anger about the feedback for this story to my readers that I would like to address now since it has been such a long time and I am not longer angry about it. I know when you upload something onto the internet you are opening it up to all sorts of criticism. I above all am not above giving firm criticism when it needs to be given and I surely do know how to take firm criticism. **

**Because you guys do not have access to my email you weren't getting that part of why I was mad. I was never angry at people who said that my work was choppy and didn't have good use of figurative language. In some ways I obviously agreed because I chose to rewrite the material. I was never mad when people reviewed and said that they didn't like the scene with the bra. Though I did defend it like it was my child. Now when I reread that part I want to shoot it like a dog with rabies. These aren't the things I was mad about. So here is what I was consistently angry about. **

**Here is a direct copy and paste of one of the many reasons as to what I was upset about: "I just wanted to say I was a faithful follower to your original Hell and Heaven, and I am just going to tell you now you have lost a reader. The rewrite is fing terrible. You should really feel bad that you are taking the time to rewrite something that was fine the way it was and only accomplished into turning it ino a major piece of crap. The original was so much better that I can't even believe you think this trash was better. Thanks for wasting my time on something that I wont ever get to know the ending of because you chose to f it up."**

**Here is another copy and paste: "I guess I understand why you wanted to rewrite your story but seriously it isn't like you couldn't just finish the original before writing the rewrite for those who actually care more about the relationship with baird then the story content. I was only holding on because I kept hoping that eventually you would actually write a sex scene worth reading instead of that gross one that you wrote in the original. So I guess what I am trying to tell you is thanks for absolutely nothing. I hope the rewrite sucks since you obviously couldn't deliver good content in the original." **

**And another: "Are you fuing kidding me?! You are revising Hell and Heaven? What sort of joke is that? The only reason you had readers is cuz we wanted to read smut with Baird. I think you should jst accept fact that your fic sucked to begin with and it sucks now just as much as the original" **

**So there you have it. I just figured because I noticed no matter how much I tried to convey my anger about legitimate flamers, the more people who actually gave me firm constructive criticism became angry with me because they thought I was talking about them, or couldn't take the heat. And while I was mad at flamers, people who became mad at me because they thought I was talking about them got on my nerves too. So I didn't handle the situation very well. These aren't all of the emails I got either. I got a lot of them that I could just fill up this first chapter with them. But for the record these are the examples of people of whom I would consider to be a troll or a flamer, or whatever the new term is to just describe people who exhibit unacceptable behavior because they can do so anonymously over the internet. **

**I just wanted to put this out there because it was just a bad situation and I just didn't want people to think that I was talking about them if it weren't directly brought up. An indicator that I was talking about you would be the fact that I would directly email you about it or write your name in an AN to address it publically because I am not above public shaming. So I do so hope this is all cleared up and whoever still reads this story knows that if I considered your feedback to be a flame I would have directly called you out on it.**

**I also just wanted everyone to know that I do apologize for not handling the situation appropriately and if I ever made you think that I was talking about you when I was wasn't I also apologize for that too. If there is anything that you would like to tell me, even if it is something you don't like about the story feel free to do so. Even if it is something like "I enjoyed the original more". That is fine with me because I will honestly assume that the original in some way was more light hearted and you liked that, less grotesque and you liked that, etc. Feel free to tell me your opinions. I just suggest if your opinion is that "You suck, your story sucks, you should roll over and die" you may want to just keep it to yourself because I don't take trying to put someone down is ever acceptable. I also stand behind my opinion that if you don't like my story don't read it. But overall I hope if you find yourself here you will like my story and know that I am really sorry if I have let any of my readers down by the revision. **

**Also if you have reviewed at all on any of my chapters and you try to review on the edited chapter it may not let you. And I am also sorry for this 1000 word AN.**

**So here is Chapter One with the edits. I will also in every AN say that the chapter has been edited that way if you have been here before and don't want to read them again you don't have to. Though if you want to read again it would be great if you would email me and let me know if it sounds better because I have gone back and tried to change some of my language. As in instead of repeating the word pain a million times I actually used my vocabulary skills. I will admit I am a lazy writer sometimes (most times). But I am trying to fix that. Oh and I guess on a side note this chapter is also is finding itself a bra scene less. **

The pain was unbearable. It were as if her insides were on fire. Somehow she managed through it. There was a worse feeling than actually being on fire and that was feeling remains of the bullets, or whatever had hit her, still inside her. Every time she took a breath or moved, the shards wiggled deeper. It may have only been millimeters here or there, but they were making their way deeper from their original position.

She chewed her lower lip until it bled to suppress her need to scream in agony. There was a need to use one pain that she could control herself to distract her from another pain that she couldn't control. She had never felt like this before. Never in her entire life had she ever suffered so much physical agony. She would rather be birthing a ten pound child instead of lying around in the condition that she was in.

She laid amongst rubble form the Locust attack that had happened just moments before. The landscape was nothing close to barren, it was littered with bodies of Locusts and her fallen comrades. The land was scorched black and drenched with blood and viscera. What was left of buildings lay in dust and clumps of broken marble and bricks. It was a sad sight to be honest. It was even sadder that Sera as a whole looked like this. There was not one place she could think of that wasn't a waste land like this. Sera had once been a beautiful place and now she couldn't even recognize the planet she called home. She suddenly wished that she wouldn't die this day so she could continue giving a helping hand to killing all the Locusts, all the Locusts that_ they_ had said were already dead.

They had said it was over, the war that was. They said that there was nothing to worry about anymore. She had been fool enough to believe it too. For a moment she remembered how she had felt completely exhilarated when the words "its over" had echoed of their COMM units. That was until her entire squadron had been annihilated by a Locust Horde.

They had stopped to celebrate just like everyone else on Sera was doing, and then the chaos ensued. The war was definitely not over. It was understandable to find a few stray Locusts still picking their way through the remains of Sera, but it wasn't understandable to find an entire horde. A horde that consisted of at least sixty Locusts. Sixty! Sixty down, and only she had survived her squadron that had consisted of seven.

It was a hard place to be in, knowing that you were the only survivor. Tears pricked her eyes as she thought of the good men and women she had served with until they met their end today. She couldn't help but regret not being able to get up to collect their COG tags. She would if she could only stand, but she could barely drag her body around.

Hot blood sifted through her fingers that desperately tried to plug into her stomach wound to at least slow the bleeding. It didn't work though. She was now lying in her own pool of blood; in fact she was covered in her own blood, signaling to her that the amount of blood she was losing meant her wounds were fatal. At that moment she would rather be covered in Locust blood, in fact she could even rather be covered in Locust guts, which smelled worse than Locust blood. Just as long as it wasn't her own blood. If it weren't her blood then it wouldn't mean that she would die a slowly. However, it was her blood so there was nothing she could do.

She heaved to the side, throwing up her military pack meal that she had eaten hours earlier. It never occurred to her that hours later her body still hadn't digested her food. Throwing up only made her stomach wounds, and everything else that was wrong with her body hurt like hell itself had grasped her in a tight grip. The bleeding increased as she moved too, tearing the wounds deeper with the movement. She was going to bleed to death and she faced that fact with no fear, just a lot of pent up anger. Hot. Bitter. Anger.

The injuries made her want to blackout, or just go ahead and die. For some reason, at this moment she was still living, and it didn't make a whole lot of sense. Maybe she was supposed to suffer more before she died? She didn't have a weapon near enough to off herself, which would be a better death instead of bleeding out. Yet, her options were: bleed out, or get caught living by a stray Locust. She was going to happily take her chances by bleeding to death.

She was on a cliff and her eyes wondered below, to where she heard marching; to where the city Jilane had once proudly stood. No, she not only heard it, she felt it. The ground rumble beneath her body and it made her wounds hurt all the more with each vibration she felt. Her breath caught in her constricting throat. Fear gripped her so hard that she couldn't look away once she focused on what was causing the ground to ruble. Below was what surely would be the end of Sera. It only angered her more to learn that she was now afraid, but she was scared for what was left of humanity. It wasn't death itself that had her afraid; it was just the promise of the future of Sera marching below.

She turned on her COMM radio and heard celebration commotion over the channel.

"Stop fucking celebrating you dumb fuckers. This war is far from fucking over."

She had spoke through gritted teeth into the microphone. She could only hope that her anger had been conveyed exactly that way she wanted it to be. They were all having a splendid time thinking everything was fine and dandy, when in reality it wasn't. Her eyes continued to scan the Locust Horde that marched beneath her. There were enough Locusts down there to populate half of Sera alone, and there was no telling how many more Locusts were actually not there to be seen. Again fear ran through her, faster than blood could pump out from her wounds. It sickened her to be afraid.

Everyone was on the same frequency so to her dying pleasure, everyone heard her angry confession. That for a moment brought a smile to her bruised and blood stained face.

"Staff Sergeant Morg, what's your status?" asked Hoffman. She would recognize that deep drawl of his voice anywhere.

"Shot and bleeding out, sir. Don't bother with me. Will be dead by the time you get here."

As she spoke she tried to remove some of her armor so she could be more comfortable when she died. Her hands worked deftly at the leather straps of her breast plate, desperately trying to free it. She cursed herself for never trying to trade in this older plating for the newer combat armor. She had heard that the new stuff was lighter. It hurt so much having the armor plate bearing down on her.

She needed it off as soon as possible. It was too heavy for her to stand anymore because it was making it harder for her to breathe. Finally the straps gave way and she threw the damned thing off. It was a moment of blissful relief that filled her at the sudden loss of the heaviness. Yet that agony returned, but it wasn't as bad as it was before she had removed the plate.

"Don't worry gear, we are on our way," said Anya Stroud over the COMM unit. Morg huffed, she knew Anya couldn't help but sound like a pretentious ass, yet years of knowing the woman she still couldn't help but be highly annoyed by it as much as she had been when she had first met Anya.

"Bitch," she whispered to herself as she tried to stop the bleeding of her stomach again. What part about bleeding out did they not understand? Or would be dead by the time they got there? She thought to herself as she busied herself with the stomach wound.

She then dragged herself by her elbows on her back a few feet out of sight. She bit her already sore and bloody lip until she whimpered. She knew she probably had already given away her position by yelling earlier, but just in case she hadn't she didn't want to give it away now by screaming. So with all her might, she didn't scream as she dragged herself backwards. She would rather die bleeding out in the rubble that surrounded her, then by a stray locust or wrench passing her by.

She felt Sera rumble beneath her, which only reminded her of the threat below. The feeling sent chills up her spine and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"You are wasting your time coming here. A click away there is the entire Locust nation marching around like it's a fucking parade. So don't come, they will kill you. Or better yet come and bring another fucking lightmass bomb with you!"

After her rant over the COMM she started to cough harshly. As she continued to cough she had to roll onto her side. Blood sprayed forth from her mouth and for a moment she gagged and choked on her own blood. It was several seconds until she was able to breathe without coughing or choking on blood. She managed to miss what Anya said to her though due to the coughing. She wiped blood off her chin with the back of her hand and then lay flat on her back again.

Dying wasn't really what she expected it to be like. Everyone said that their life flashed before their eyes, but then again the people who had said that never actually died, or at least none that she had ever met. She believed that they, who said that, were very wrong. Her life wasn't flashing before her eyes; the only thing that was in her head was how angry at the world she was. She was angry about losing many loved one to this war, and the time that she didn't get to spend with them longer. She was angry that she had to die this way. She wished that if she had to die to this war it would be a shotgun blast to the head. Yet, maybe that was the coward's way out, quick and painless. Dying in her case was slow and agonizing, so maybe she was proving she was no coward.

In the horizon she saw two King Ravens heading towards her direction. There were some times when it was perfectly okay to leave a man behind. She thought her case fell under one of those times. She would have understood them leaving her there to die. In fact she wasn't sure she understood why they didn't. To her luck though she snorted loudly before dying. Too bad it was a lost cause now to come and get her. Waste of their fucking time, was her last thought.

* * *

The King Raven had almost touched the ground when Sergeant Marcus Fenix was already jumping off and heading toward the outline of Staff Sergeant Morg. He could barely see her among the rubble, she tended to blend into the beaten and bloody surroundings. The boots sticking out and trembling side to side from the debris gave her away though, as well as the fresh blood trail there.

Once he reached her, he roughly pulled out an epinephrine pin and slammed the device into her triceps of her right arm. He pushed down on the device and the needle shot into her arm, releasing the epinephrine once there. After ten seconds, he removed the pin and tossed it to the ground. She screamed and woke instantly, grabbing her chest in an instant reaction to the drug. Her heart raced so quickly that she was sure that she would die of her heart exploding with the extreme effort.

She was a mess, and Marcus could almost stake Baird's life that she was going to die. She wheezed when she breathed, it sounded she had fluid in her lungs, most likely blood. He had to the hand it to her though, she had stuck around this long and lived, so maybe Baird would just die and they could keep her. He shook his head and tried to refrain from laughing.

As quickly as she came too, she slipped back into unconsciousness. At least he knew that she was alive and the epinephrine would help keep her alive for a little while longer if she were supposed to survive this day. He sure hoped that she would survive; otherwise they would have really wasted their time coming to pick her up. It had been Hoffman's idea though, he told Anya to announce it, and then here they were, picking up some half dead soldier.

Marcus with the help of Dominic Santiago picked her up roughly, which for a moment pulled her into consciousness just so she could curse them both to hell. They couldn't help but laugh at her. She was sure to let them both know before she slipped away again that she would kill the both of them with her bare hands. Together the toted her to the awaiting Raven that had touched down while the other Raven laid cover fire. Helping hands of the rest of the Delta/Alpha squad dragged her dying body on board once they had reached it. Marcus and Dom quickly climbed in after they had her situated on the floor.

As the Raven lifted off, everyone started to help with trying to stop her bleeding. She woke several times as they tugged at her COG armor, wincing in pain, and then succumbing to darkness again. It was rough on her body, but if they wanted to save her life, then it had to be done. She protested slightly, weakly, and then slipped back away as she grabbed hold of the nearest person to her, which was Damon Baird.

"Bitch's a trooper," stated Baird as he tried to pry her fingers off of his forearm. Her grip was like iron, but he finally removed her hand, but not without bleeding from where her nails had bit into his skin. "She is fucking tough too," Baird grumbled as he motioned to the blood on his arm that beaded at the site of his new cuts.

Dom produced a small knife and started to cut her shirt away so everyone could see the damage of her gave a sharp intake of air, not believing the damage they had found her in. This was not a gunshot wound, it was shrapnel wound. Meaning that she had been standing near a grenade when it went off, sending metal and debris into her stomach.

When one of them took notice to blood pulling under her shoulder they rolled her over slightly so they could see what was causing the bleeding. This produced knowledge that she had suffered at the end of a sniper's rifle. She had been shot in her shoulder, but by the look of it, it hadn't broken anything. They rolled her back onto her back so they could keep accessing the damage to the rest of her.

Once they had cut away some of her pants leg, they revealed a shot gun wound on her outer thigh. The stomach wound and the shoulder wound were the most serious of the three. The gun shot wound was bad, but was taken at an angle so the worse part of that would be she might experience some trouble walking.

"Baby is a fine trooper to be still alive," said Augustus "Cole Train" Cole as he watched Baird start to inspect her stomach wounds.

With a grimy finger Baird searched one of the many holes in her stomach which was also the biggest. His finger slid smoothly into the slick wound. The skin expanded around his finger, and he tried hard not to think about entirely disgusted he was by doing this. Finding the metal scrap was the hard part. Anya glanced over at Baird, and turned green and she was sure she was about to cover the walls with chuke.

It was something Anya would never get used too, cleaning out wounds. Bile rose to her throat as she watched his finger slip deeper and deeper into the wound. She closed her eyes and looked away before she lost her lunch. After a few minutes of carefully feeling around in her stomach, with his index finger, he found one of many pieces he was looking for. It was deep, and that wasn't good. He felt around gently with his finger, which made him happy to know at least in this area he was feeling in didn't have any internal organ damage. He frowned though and looked up at Marcus as he removed his finger from her. He wiped the blood off his finger onto his pants leg as he shook his head.

"She is going to need surgery, otherwise she will die of infection. I don't think any organs were damaged, but its deep, and infection probably has already set in."

"Infection you just gave her from your dirty ass finger," stated Cole with disgust. Everyone rolled their eyes, but they were all thinking the same thing that Cole said. It was necessary though. It wasn't like they had anything to sterilize their hands with, they had run out of that stuff a long time ago, and they were not doctors, so they improvised. Marcus then pulled out a wicked looking knife that he kept on his side. He tried to pass it to Cole who just shook his no. He then waved it in front of Baird.

"Can't too squeamish," Baird said as he declined.

"You just fingered her in the stomach with your gross ass finger. And you say you are too squeamish?"

It was Cole who asked the question that popped into all of their heads after Baird declined the knife.

"Well cutting on people is not what I do best," Baird explained.

"You can chainsaw a Locust, you can cut on a human," said Dom as he looked to Baird.

"No I can't. I only cut to kill, you want me to cut her, she is going to die, which she is going to do if you don't hurry the hell up." Baird growled the entire explanation at them as if they were all idiots.

Marcus then tried to pass it to Dom.

"How can you ask? I have too many deaths on my hands."

Dom whispered his explanation as he thought how he had to put a bullet in his own wife's skull. Marcus sighed knowing it was up to him. He gave a silent prayer and sank the knife deep but carefully into the first hole he found on her stomach. It was surprising how easy it really was to put that knife into her stomach like that. He had to be gentle though, which he knew that.

She woke with a start making the knife twist deeper into her. Her eyes widened in horror at the knife's tip being inside of her stomach, and a silent scream leapt to her lips.

"Get that shit away from me!" she yelled as she tried to get away. Nothing worked because Baird held her down by her shoulders. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes as she tried to fight the pain and the oncoming hysteria. She grabbed around, hoping for a hand or anything to grab a hold of. Dom's hand came more than willingly. She found his hand very comforting, warm, strong, everything she needed for that moment to find a little bit of strength.

The woman might be a bitch but everyone knew that pain. It was something so terrible that it caused some of the nicest people to become someone else, someone nasty or hateful. It made them become someone who they weren't.

"I said get that fucking thing away from me," she cried. She _was_ actually crying. She choked on a sob and squeezed her eyes shut so she couldn't see the look of pity on each of their faces.

"You do realize if we don't do this now that you will die of infection, if you don't bleed out first that is," explained Marcus as he steadied his knife hand. Her breathing became labored and she tried not to move. Her black eyes opened and bore into Marcus' dark blue ones. She nodded in complete understanding. She really had already faced the fact that she was going to die, but maybe today was not her day. So she might as well try to live.

"Hey cock sucker, you have to knock me out," she said as she turned to look at Baird because he was the closest to her face.

"Bitch, what did you call me?" he asked, not sure he had heard her clearly. He was sure nobody spoke to him like that, not even this person in pain.

"I said knock me out, you cock sucker who likes it in the ass," she cried through clenched teeth as tears streaked her dirty blood stained face. He stared at her shocked for a moment and tried to understand what she was saying. He processed what she said and then he lost his cool. She, some bitch he didn't even know, had said that to him. No one spoke to him that way. He was a man who deserved respect, he told himself.

Without a second thought, he rocked her world with his fist to the right side of her face. The world blissfully went out like a light for her. She would probably have to thank him one day for punching her in the face, but right now she didn't have to be bothered with such thoughts.

"What the hell?" screamed Anya from the second pilot's seat, shocked that she just witnessed Baird knocking a woman out cold. She shook her head and fought with her inner morals to whether lecture him now or later.

"Anya hush. She needed to be knocked out. The pain is too much for her to bare." Marcus explained without looking at her. Her pretty green gold eyes flashed with intense anger. He had never told her to hush before, and she knew he was stressed but it wasn't something she wanted to get used to. She went to speak but she met Dom's eyes and the look he gave her made her sigh and look away.

Finally after a few minutes of silence, Marcus fished out the first fragment of debris.

"Should have just left her for dead," said Baird as he looked down at her mangled body, angry with her. It was useless to be angry with a woman who was bleeding to death, he knew, but he didn't like the way she spoke to him. He was hot headed when it came to things like that and so he reacted the way she had wanted him to.

For a moment he let the fact that he had given into her settle into his stomach. He had done what she wanted him to do. It made him momentarily hate himself, but he immediately got over it. Stupid bitch needs to watch her mouth, he thought as he stared down at her now peaceful face. Her face mocked him at that moment. She looked so serene in her knocked out state, he wished she looked like she were in pain that way he could enjoy it more.

"Look," demanded Cole, drawing everyone's thoughts away from Morg, as he pointed to the ground below. Everyone looked over and sighed rather loudly. SSGT Morg was right. They were doomed. Beneath them marched the Locust horde she had mentioned. They hadn't noticed the Locusts below them before because their minds had been so involved with Morg, but they had ran right into the "bee's hive" so to speak. Locusts swarmed together as far as the eye could see. It was truly terrifying to every man there. Simply so many Locusts that Humans were now the minority race on Sera.

"We are fucked," mumbled Marcus as he went back to his task.

**I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter, and if this is your first time here I would wait to read the rest of the story unless it is an edited chapter. If you have found yourself here before I hoped the edits made the dialogue easier to read through and I hope that you overall enjoyed the first chapter of the revised story. Also something I didn't mention before I am really happy that GOW is the fandom that does have some pretty hardcore fans. You guys are a hard crowd to please sometimes but honestly I think that is a great thing because I am such a GOW that I consistently find myself going back to play the games, read the comics, read the books and showing off my own replica lancer to all my friends every time one of them mentions GOW. Stay tough everyone and please bare with me if you are here for the long haul. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Okay again I would like to say sorry about my anger, but at the same time I am not saying that I am cool with all the readers who gave me a really hard time. I don't care if I post this stuff and it opens it up for flamers, I just don't understand how most of the flamers were people who liked the original, that was all I was getting at. But anyways, I have worked hard on this and let me know what you think. I really would like to know, good or bad. Anyways I would like to really thank everyone who stood by me and told me not to give this up. Evil But Cute Bunny Thank you so much for being awesome! You really showes some awesome support and you really understood where I was coming from. Thank you DemonCentaur for an awesome review, it was most appreciated! And thanks to everyone else that emailed me and review. I really do hope that you enjoy this, because I did put a lot of effot into it. And if you don't I am sorry that in your opinion it doesn't compare to the original Hell and Heaven. Please though let me know what you think. **

One week later…

"So you are telling me that when we go to move again, that _she_ is going to be going with our squad? Like she is going to be a part of Delta?" asked Cole as he stared at Hoffman.

Hoffman missed the hopefulness in Cole's voice. They had been bad mouthing Morg all day and it was making Hoffman sick. Not just any type of sick, but the sick that one gets when they have absolutely heard all they possibly could on a subject.

Hoffman sighed, they didn't even really know this woman, and yet they hated her, or seemed to hate her. Hoffman nodded and watched as Cole's face lit up like it was his first touchdown of the season.

Okay, well Cole was the only one who didn't hate her. That wasn't saying a whole lot though, Cole liked anyone who wasn't a Locust. Cole was easy trusting and he had a big heart. He might look intimidating, but he was the big baby of Delta Squad, or the big teddy bear. If there was anyone who could be called the 'Heart of Delta', it was surely to be Cole. That was at least the way Hoffman felt about it.

"Yes, no more sausage fest for the Delta Squad, baby." Cole sang happily as he looked around the group for a high five. Not one returned it though and he just shrugged them all off and clapped his own hand. "Don't matter. I think we need a woman's touch to our squad." Cole mumbled under his breath.

Anya coughed into a fist and the rest of them groaned loudly. She wanted them to admit she was a part of Delta, for she was, but to this day they never included her in their namesake. It was rather terrible too because Anya had indeed worked hard to make sure that everyone of them were still standing here today. She also worked equally as hard for Baird, and that took effort to help someone as stubborn and annoying as Baird.

"Anya last time I checked you aren't out there being fired at. I mean you become a meat sack like the rest of us, we will be glad to call you a proud member of the Delta Squad" said Baird with a smirk as he spoke. He was teasing her yes, but for the most part Baird was being serious with her.

It was hard to appreciate someone who didn't fight, but what he needed to appreciate was that she worked hard day and night for their sake. If it wasn't for her Intel, most of them would have bit the bullet by now. He couldn't even count the many times she had pulled his ass out of walking straight into a grub hole. She was valuable, but she still didn't get into the heat like the rest of them.

"But you are important to the team, and don't worry Anya, Baird isn't a part of Delta Squad either. He is just the idiot we send out first to get shot." said Dom quickly to cover up for Baird. It was something that Dom did because he was a nice guy. Everyone else would have let Baird suffer the consequences of his words to the woman.

"Hey! It is the truth! She isn't out there getting shot at. Not like our new member will be. And I am not an idiot that you send out to get shot at first!" Baird sneered at Dom.

"Yeah you are, remember the other day right before we got to the remains of Jilane? Every one of us voted that you go first, baby." laughed Cole. Cole and Dom laughed while Baird turned red in the face.

"Oh shut the fuck up Cole!" muttered Baird as he tried to calm himself down. He knew they were lying, but it didn't make him feel any better.

"Baird, how about you practice shutting the fuck up." demanded Marcus. He glanced at Anya that gave him a thankful smile.

"Baird you might regret those words later when I lead your ass straight into a grub hole." she said in satisfaction. It was good that she was finding her voice with these men. Once upon her life she wouldn't have been able to do anything but relay orders to them. Now though she could really speak to them as if they were her friends.

Which they all were in their own ways, even Baird who she had a hard time getting along with was a friend to her. Cole patted her on the back. "Baby, you are good, and when you do that make sure none of are standing around." he laughed.

"I will do so just for you Cole" she said with a wide pretty smile. Everyone knew that smile of hers. It was a genuine smile that told them all that she loved each and every one of them because they were all family. They were family that was supposed to gain a new family member.

"So SSGT Morg will be with us?" asked Marcus as he looked back at Hoffman as he loaded some cargo onto a cargo truck as they all spoke. He had been half listening for the most part, so he had to confirm it for himself.

"Yes. She will of course be demoted so she won't be in charge of the Delta Squad, since her rank is higher than yours at the moment." said Hoffman.

"She must be good at what she does to out rank Marcus." muttered Dom as he helped load the cargo truck as well. Dom climbed into the bed of the truck and motioned for Marcus to hand him the crate that he had been carrying.

They worked together and filled the truck as full as they could with supplies. They were always a good team in everything they did together. Dom looked at what he was carrying, it was medical supply. It always made him feel weird about having to move medical supply, it was a reminder that many of their resources were running out. It would seem like a whole truck load of medical supply was a lot, but in reality it wasn't even enough to begin to help the injured in Sera.

"She is battered to hell and back. It is not like if we get into some heavy heat, which we always do, she won't be able to do anything but get in the way. Why don't we just leave her? It's not like she can help us? All she will do is hold us back anyways." expressed Baird angrily as he looked directly at all of them for support. He could see in their eyes but no one seemed to agree with him on this point.

"We won't leave her and I have had enough bad mouthing about my niece! She is a good woman, and you have to stop judging her before you even know her. I have seen some of you act worse then she has when you have been shot up!" Hoffman yelled, more at Baird than anyone else in the Delta Squad.

Dumbfounded was the only way to express how each member of Delta Squad looked at him. At that very moment each one of them asked themselves if they had heard Hoffman right. Yet of course they did, the man had practically yelled it to them. He said niece as plain as the rest of them standing there.

"She is your niece? Huh must run in the family." Marcus said more to himself than to anyone else. That gained a few laughs from the men, but Anya just shook her head at them all. Clearly it didn't matter that it upset Hoffman for them to speak about his niece in the way they were doing so, they were still going to talk about her they way they wanted to.

"Yes, she is my lovely niece." said Hoffman very proudly as he gave each and every one of them that look a man does when he is talking about his favorite family member. Well in Hoffman's case S Sgt Morg was his only family member since E-day.

"You can quit lying, she is nothing close to lovely." said Baird with a laugh. Everyone hushed though at that point. That statement was more on the harsh side then Baird had intended it to be.

He knew instantly after he finished laughing by himself he was going to receive an ear full from Hoffman. In fact he was probably going to be demoted again. Every time he smarted off or said something stupid he got an ear full, so this time was going to be no different.

Hoffman had it then. He turned to look at the younger man in the eye. Baird saw the fire behind Hoffman's older eyes and fear bit him. There was nothing wrong with fearing Hoffman, for a man who was as old as he was, he could still fight like the man of his youth.

"Let me tell you something boy. My niece has more to her then you will ever know. It doesn't matter if there is war raging or not, she is lovely." said Hoffman angrily.

"Well Hoffman, I must agree with Baird, she isn't so lovely." said Marcus with a laugh trying to cool off the situation to avoid the fight that was surely about to ensue. Everyone but Hoffman laughed at that.

"Maybe in a month or two she might be good looking again, and when she does look good, she needs to watch out baby. Cause I am going to make my move." said Cole with a big grin and in a jokingly manner. It was helping though, the tension in the air that could be sliced with a chainsaw was becoming thinner.

"In your dreams Cole, when she gets better, the only name she will be screaming is mine." snickered Baird as he hefted his lancer assault rifle on his shoulder. Again everyone laughed but Hoffman. Hoffman couldn't very well laugh at something that was turning his face green and making his stomach churn. He swore if he tried to speak he very well may blow chuke all over Baird's feet.

They after all were speaking about his niece in the worst manner that they could think of. He tried to swallow his disgust, but it didn't quite work. He could still feel himself wanting to puke as he imagine his niece and Baird sharing the same bed.

"I swear she will scream both of your names when she is trying to kill you. Like Hoffman is going to do if you two don't shut it." said Dom with a smile as he clapped Hoffman on the back as he jumped out of the bed of the cargo truck.

Hoffman stared at them, how could they talk like that? But then he remembered when he was younger and dumber so to speak. He couldn't act like he hadn't ever talked like that about anyone in such a manner. He sighed loudly and just dropped the issue. He went back to looking at his map and disregarded them the rest of the time they had to spend together for that day.

He would just have to forget this entire conversation had ensued for he didn't want to dwell on it. For if he did he might be killing Baird and Cole before a Locust ever got the chance again.

Xxxxxxxx

She had been bed ridden for a week now and she was horrified for several different reasons. First, she was having a hard time walking, and she was almost sure she overheard a nurse saying that she might have a permanent limp.

That was one thing she relied on a lot was being able to move freely in this war, and a limp would hinder her greatly. Two, the outside world sounded like it was being blown apart. It was terrifying to lie in a hospital bed, and listen to people die outside the window, and not be able to do anything about it but listen and pray for the people screaming.

And let's face it, praying wasn't really helping like she had hoped it would. It didn't stop the shrieking she heard at night when people were attacked by wretches or bloodmounts. Both animals were known for tearing people apart, in a most brutal fashion.

As shrieks pierced the air, all she could do was imagine what horrible thing was happening to them. Like now, she heard a woman screaming. Her mind couldn't help but see a bloodmount tearing into some defenseless person. She tried not to allow herself think about it too much otherwise her heart rate would go up and she would be at risk of going into shock and bleeding.

She remembered her first time with a wretch. Damned thing nearly took her arm off. She still had wicked scarring on her left arm to prove how horrible the things could very well be. Not to mention the infection that had followed.

She had been sick to the point she had told her squadron that if she got any worse that they would have to be humane and put her out of her misery. Luckily for her, she survived that like she was surviving this.

She ended up being rather lucky that one of her squadron members in the middle of the night didn't get angry from her screams and just shoot her. If roles had been reversed she would have probably had taken a lancer to someone.

There was another one, a loud growl. It sounded like a brumak off in the distance growling right before a Gear took it down. Well she hoped that the Gear took it down. The nurses tried to reassure her by saying that everything out there was going smoothly but she had a hard time believing it.

Plus she wasn't gullible, she knew that smile the nurses gave her was a false reassurement smile. She hated being lied to. She wasn't like other patients that needed to be lied to, she needed the truth, it would be easier to bare than a lie.

Anyways it was hard to believe it was okay when there were constant disaster sirens sounding out there and the constant sound of bombs and the rumble of the ground from it. Forget being okay out there, it was a bloody nightmare and she knew it.

Hell had seriously opened up onto Sera and it touched everyone. No one was safe from the wrath of the underworld that they were now living in. She had seen the Locust Nation marching around so she knew that it was Hell out there.

No nurse could say one thing to her that would make her believe that it was actually "okay" out there. She should be out there though. Fighting was what she was supposed to be doing. At this very moment she should be running a chainsaw through an ugly grub. That was how this woman wanted her Saturday night to be like. Instead though, she was in this hospital bed being lonely and tiresome.

As the long days passed she was becoming sure that she was going to die in this filthy hospital bed, in this sorry excuse of a hospital. She didn't complain openly about it because why would she?

Sera was mostly rubble now anyways. Couldn't complain about something that was in the best shape it could be in at the moment. It would be like complaining about an insect being ugly when it had no choice but to be born ugly. Well she could complain about Locust… That was about the only thing she felt she had the right to complain about.

Suddenly she felt the urge to use the restroom. Damn, she thought as she knew the nurses had told her that she needed help getting out of bed. She was independent though, she didn't need to wait an hour to use the latrine when she could get her butt out of bed and do it herself.

She then swung her legs over the bed and finally stood without the help of anyone, a feat that she wouldn't have been able to accomplish the day before. She was getting stronger and the made her proud. The bathroom was exactly four steps away.

She knew, she counted every time that a nurse helped her there so she would know when she couldn't stand the embarrassment of being helped by a nurse. On shaky weak legs she made it there, but not without pulling at her stitches, which she had many of. Twenty here and there on her stomach where the fragments had gotten her, fifteen on her left leg, and seven on her shoulder.

She had not anticipated living or living looking like sewn together doll. She stared at herself in the dingy mirror located in the restroom in disgust. She lifted her hospital gown and stared at herself. She really did look like a sewn together doll.

The stitches looked like a five year old sewed her back together. They were angry red, and scattered all over her abdomen. They were tender to the touch and tenderer to just look at. She had once been a woman proud of her body and now all she wanted to do was hide behind the hospital gown.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, which she quickly blinked away. "I'm fucking hideous." she said to herself as she pressed a finger to her stomach making her wince in pain. That was another thing, the pain was so intense that she actually had a hard time breathing or thinking straight. She wondered if the pain would ever go away on its own without the aid of drugs. She sighed heavily and rolled her black eyes.

She quickly did her business, and then stumbled back her bed. She felt weaker now that she had done that. She lay back in the bed and wheezed in pain as tears tried to escape her eyes. She refused to cry though. She refused to give into her pain.

That night she lost control of herself though and cried herself to sleep in self pity and pain. She had tried so hard to control it but she wasn't in control of herself she realized.

Xxxxxxxx

Fighting at night was always the worst. There were no more kryll, thanks to the lightmass bomb that Marcus had dropped on them, wiping their asses out of existence. But night was still always the worst. "Hey Marcus, can you see anything? Cause where I'm sittin' I can't see shit." said Baird into his COMM radio.

"Listen, punk just shut up and hold your position." stated Marcus angrily. Baird rolled his eyes. "Dumbass." he whispered. Cole chuckled as quietly as he could and looked at his friend. "No reason to shake in your boots baby. Cole Train will protect your sweet ass in the dark. I know how my baby doesn't like it with the lights out." Cole laughed; he loved teasing Baird, who sometimes really seemed to be afraid of the dark.

"Can you two hush?" asked Dom over the COMM. "I don't even need to use the radio to hear you two assholes." explained Dom in an irritated voice. Cole snickered and wore a huge grin of his ebony face.

"Baby, don't get your panties in a wad. If they hear us out there all the better, that means we can get this shit rollin' and maybe get some sleep tonight." said Cole into his radio.

From their position Cole could hear Dom laugh. Cole thrived off of making jokes so the thought that he made someone laugh prepared him for anything that could possibly come their way.

"Shut it. I got movement to the east, it is small, it is possibly just a wretch." said Marcus as he tried to focus his sights on his Longshot.

"One wretch usually means twenty wretches." said Baird with a laugh.

Then that ear piercing screech filled the still night air. That movement was definitely a wretch. "Baird, they are closer to you." said Marcus. Baird repositioned himself against what was left of the bakery store's wall, so he could see.

He squint his eyes and looked through his own Longshot sniper's rifle scope. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the magnified darkness. Nothing, he saw nothing in this darkness. He knew there was something there, he had heard the screech. But there was nothing to be…There it was.

The wretch was squatted on top of a dead body, picking what was left of the meat on the bones. Its big fingers pinched half rotted meat off of the bones and shoved it into its mouth. "Sick son of a bitch." cursed Baird as he took shot.

The bullet hit its mark, knocking the wretch back a few feet. It didn't die because it was hard to judge where a kill spot was on a wretch really was. It screeched loudly again, like it was calling for help. Its mouth was open, showing its bone crushing fangs as it screeched.

Baird took the opportunity to shoot again. This time the bullet hit the inside of its mouth, knocking it to the ground, finally killing it. "Shit, grub hole!" yelled Cole as he pointed next to where the wretch had fallen.

The once sturdy ground began to shake and the ground started to cave in. Each man cursed as for a moment there was a quiet before the storm. It was when everything became utterly still. The ground stopped shaking and the only thing that could be heard was the mens breathing and their own heart beats.

Before they all knew if the night was filled with gun blasts and grenade explosions. Baird and Cole stayed their ground as they both turned into killing machines. And a dangerous machine they were together.

Cole let three frags fly high as Baird laid down some cover fire. "Fuck yeah! A head shot!" yelled Baird as he literally blew a head off one of the Locust's who was trying to make its way to where Marcus and Dom where at.

It was always such a satisfying feeling when you blew a Locust's head clean from its shoulders. Baird grinned ear to ear, more than satisfied with himself. It was a real rush to see that spray of blood and gore fly into the air, all because of him.

Cole and Baird both laughed as they started to make a game out headshots with their Longshot rifles. "You two are sick." said Dom as he heard Cole yell out ten. "Eleven!" yelled Baird as he dropped the last disgusting grub with a sickening shot to its ugly head.

"When this shit is over Cole, I think this means you owe me twenty six beers." said Baird. "And you are the only one who keeps count, baby." grumbled Cole as he stepped close to a grub that was still alive.

He curb stomped it roughly, then grumbled when he got blood on his freshly cleaned boots. "It is war Cole. You are going to get dirty." said Dom as he came to stand next to them. "Especially if you are going to curb stomp them." added Marcus with a deep laugh.

"That is what I keep trying to tell the big oaf, but he never listens." said Baird as he hoisted his gun onto his shoulder.

"Careful guys, a click away there is another grub hole forming." said Anya into their COMM radios.

Everyone of them grumbled and started towards the hole, ready for some more midnight action. Most men would dream of getting a good midnight snack, well this was Delta's midnight snack.

Xxxxxxx

"Watch out Baird!" yelled Marcus. Baird turned around, revving his chainsaw. He was faced with a grub trying to bare down on him with a familiar Lancer assault rifle. Baird lifted his into the air and let it block the grub.

With all his might he put his weight against his gun so he could overpower the grub. Cole turned and shot the grub in the leg, causing it to falter, giving Baird the chance to have the upper hand. He knocked the Lancer away from the grub and chainsaw the grub from the neck down to its navel, well that was if they had navels.

Chain sawing was nasty business, especially when it came to chain sawing a Locust grub. Blood, muscle, fat, and all other kinds of innards went flying into the air, and landing on Baird. He disengaged the battered body from his gun and took a step away frowning.

With a gloved hand he wiped the blood and guts off his face and off of his goggles that rested on the top of his head. But that didn't stop the blood from dripping from his cornsilk hair. He shook his head like a dog, trying to get the blood out of his hair.

Little droplets of blood were forced from his hair as he shook his head. He was impressed about how bloody he had really gotten from this kill. He couldn't help but smile.

"Red looks good on him." said Marcus after shooting a grub in the face to make sure it was dead. "And purple looks good on you." retorted Baird angrily.

"And both of you look great in dresses and high heels. Can we go now? Our shift is over." said Dom as he started walking back to what the COG called a base, laughing at Baird and Marcus who stood back and grumbled at each other like children.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Ah well turns out some flamers know how to say they are sorry, and others can just suck it lol. Anyways I will try to have the fourth chapter up in about week. I have to take a writing break. I hope everyone enjoys this. Thank you so much for all your feedback!**

**Aruba: Thank you alot for your review I completely appreciate it. You are awesome! **

**LuLu: I do plan to keep writing and thank you so much for your support and you too are awesome! **

**Jonesybites: I am so glad that you came to me with your concerns over the story. It really means a lot to me that you really do care about the story enough to voice your concerns about it. Thank you so very much for being a faithful reader and I hope that you enjoy the revision. **

**DemonCentaur: Again you are so awesome as well! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoyed the last one! Thank you!**

**And thank you all who said sorry to me after I cleared some stuff up with you all! Anyways Please Read and Review! :)**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Shit!" screamed Baird as a wretch viciously clamped its fangs down on his arm. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, shit! Someone help me get this damned wretch off of me! Any fucking time now!" he screamed as he tripped back over a old fallen column of the run down building that they were in.

It was just his luck to be bit and then turn into a clumsy person. But he wasn't known for his good luck. He had already experienced this more than once. It was like the time he had to trudge through sewer water while Dom and Marcus could have practically had a damned picnic.

The wretch growled into Baird's arm as it swiped its powerful claws at his face. He strained his neck trying to get out of the way from its claws, thankfully he was able to. It latched down harder onto his arm reminding him of a pit bull, once they had you, they never wanted to let go. He then proceeds to punch the wretch in the face, doing nothing but causing it to clamp down harder on his arm.

Rivulets of blood ran from the wounds on his arm, and its saliva eased its way into his flesh. He caught whiff of the beast and gagged on top of his pain. The thing smelled like rotten meat. Which meant only one thing; it had been feeding on something rotten. He could only hope that it hadn't fed last on a human. He wondered if these things ate their own kind.

He screamed in pain as well as fear. It was not uncommon for these little beasts to bite off an arm, and if this thing bit down any harder it might start to break the bones of his forearm. He couldn't afford to have his arm bitten off, or risk having a broken arm. He didn't know which fate at this point in time would be worse.

With his arm bitten off, he would probably die of loss of blood or infection. With a broken arm he wouldn't be able to defend himself properly and he would die. Either way he would die. Really sucks to be a man who might die either way, he thought as he tried to fight the thing off again to no avail.

Somebody better hurry and try to help him, he thought angrily. Where was Cole when he needed him the most? Damn, he knew that he couldn't blame this on his friend. Just because Cole always covered him didn't mean that every once in a blue moon that something would slip past their guard.

It took a full, painful minute for someone to get to his side to assist him. But he didn't care as long as he got some help. Marcus gripped the wretch by its powerful jaws and started to tug the wretch off of Baird's arm. It snarled and tossed its head side to side. Baird howled in pain and he threw his head back.

"Fuck you Marcus!" he screamed as its sharp fangs ripped deeper into skin and pulled roughly at it. He knew Marcus was helping, it was just he had to have someone else to blame for his amount of pain.

His head flung back against the ground again, with a scream caught roughly in his throat. He imagined this is what birth felt like, being torn little by little.

"Sorry Baird." said Marcus as he continued to pull at the wretch, until it was far enough away from Baird to shoot it. He pulled out his gnasher shotgun and pointed it at the part of the wretch that wasn't clamped to Baird's arm.

Without a second thought he shot, blowing the beast into literal bits to litter the already bloody ground. Blood and flesh flew through the air and onto Baird's face. Baird hissed in happiness as the powerful jaws slackened their grip.

The only solid thing left of it was its mouth. After its jaw slackened it fell to the ground to where the rest of it had fallen after the gunblast.

Baird lay back on the ground a few moments to gain whatever composure he had or could possibly muster at a time like this. Once he stood he patted Marcus on the back with thanks, but then instantly sneered at him. Marcus shook his head at him then grabbed Baird's injured arm.

Baird cried out with pain and tried to jerk his arm away, which only made the pain worse. His blood stained eyebrows knit together in pain and he tried his hardest to concentrate on anything other than how bad it hurt.

"You are going to have to get that seen about. It needs stitches and those things are filled with bacteria and disease. Don't want to risk an ugly infection." Marcus explained as he stared down at Baird's arm.

Baird snatched his arm away, and glared at Marcus. "I will be more than fine, thank you." he muttered angrily. He walked away towards where Dom and Cole where waiting, they had already finished off the rest of the wretches while Baird was needing rescuing.

He hated when Marcus fathered the team. Sometimes Baird wondered if Marcus noticed he did it. Wasn't it enough that he saved Baird? Did he really have to pretty much tell Baird to go to the doctor to get checked out too?

Baird wondered if it wasn't as bad as it was, would Marcus drop to one knee and kiss his wound to make it better. Baird laughed at this thought, knowing it was ridiculous, and would never happen. Point was, Marcus wasn't the leader of Delta Squad at times, he was its father.

He huffed loudly as he continued to think all the mean things about Marcus that he could. It always made him feel better to think mean things about Marcus. He smiled to himself, pleased. It would have even pleased him more if Marcus could get into some heavy heat so that Baird could rescue him and make him feel like a fool for getting hurt. Not that it would be easy to make Marcus feel like a fool. As it would be even harder for Marcus to be in that situation where he needed to be rescued by Baird.

He then looked at his arm. "Damn." he mumbled, knowing that even though he hated to admit it, he had to go the doctor, just like Marcus had said. _Just like Marcus had said_! He growled angrily and tried to make a fist.

He couldn't even draw his fingers to his palm because it hurt so completely. He shuddered in pain and then stopped trying. He felt defeated by his own body. He swallowed hard and tried not to let his pain show through.

Xxxxxxxx

He watched her sleep, and she looked very disturbed. Her face contorted, and she frowned. He wondered if it had anything to do with the way her body now looked, or if she was just in obvious pain.

It was bad to think, but he hoped she was just in pain. She didn't have to strength to worry about the way she looked. So therefore he hoped that she was just in pain that way she didn't sap herself with worrying about the way she looked.

He had been there when Marcus had attempted to try to get all that debris out of her. Marcus had done a good job, and as clean as a job as you could do when you were in a Raven. It could have been so much worse. She could have died. She would have to be thankful that she lived. He knew that he was thankful that she lived.

Hoffman wasn't sure what he would do if his last remaining family member died. His chest tightened and he felt the burden of war weigh heavily on his soul. He would do anything to make sure that she stayed safe. But to do that, he needed to let her go. She was a warrior like the rest of them and he had to put his trust into her abilities to survive.

She was frowning now, more so than before, and gripping her sheets into her fists. Her grip was so hard and strained that her knuckles were white with tension. She tossed her head to the side, her hair splaying over her face and sticking to her face due to sweat.

He wondered what she was dreaming about. He wanted to wake her, to ease her fears. Yet he knew he couldn't because at least in sleep she wasn't in as much pain as she would be awake. He couldn't risk allowing himself to see how much pain she was really in. Coward, he thought to himself.

Then she woke up with a start, her back arching and her breath hitching into her throat. She blinked a few times after she realized that she was safe from whatever horror lurked deep within her subconscious. Her black eyes immediately bore into his after she regained herself.

"Uncle Victor, how long have you been sitting there?" she asked as she sat up, careful not to pull at her stitches. Her voice was hoarse and he could only imagine that it was due to screaming, not just waking up with lack of moisture in her throat.

"Just a few minutes, my dear." he lied, he had been sitting there for an hour. He studied her face while she had slept, in a way she resembled his late wife, and he wanted to try and remember what she looked like.

It was a horrible thing as the years passed how simple memories of one's distinct features could fade from the mind. He was sure that Ezra and his late wife both shared that same small mole under their left eye. Yet, he couldn't really remember if it were so. He wished he had a photo of his wife, the way Dom did. He didn't though so now he just looked to his niece and hoped to find the resemblance and the memories.

Those black eyes… He did remember that they ran in the family, and his wife had had them too. But that mole… That small insignificant mole was going to haunt him now as he tried to remember the plains of his wife's face desperately trying to remember if it fit there. He couldn't remember though, so he just gave up.

"How old are you now Ezra?" he asked his gruff older voice, trembling with emotion. "27." she answered as she looked upon her uncle in confusion. What is wrong with him? She thought as she searched his eyes.

She wished that she could ask him, but they had never been this close before the war and they weren't really this close during it. So she dropped her questions, leaving them to herself. He nodded and stood up. "Well I guess I will go now." he said.

"Oh I see. I wake up and you want to leave. So much for company." she said as she relaxed against the pillows with a small smile on her face. Hopefully she could guilt her uncle into staying just a while longer.

It was dreadfully lonely in this hospital and just a few more moments in his presence she would at least ease some of her loneliness. She glared at her uncle who only stared down at her with a grin on his older face. She like the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. It was a rare thing to see him smile and she was happy that she got to witness it.

A nurse then walked in to the room, she looked at the two of them and smiled. She then looked to the spare bed and shrugged. She wandered out into the hall again and shouted, "There is a spare bed in here." The nurse then walked back into the room with a fake smile plastered on her tired face.

Ezra smiled back, it was the least she could do for the tired nurse that was up to her shoulders in fallen Gears. For a moment the smile on the nurse's face turned genuine but it was a fleeting moment and it disappeared.

"SSgt Morg I am going to close this curtain so we can bring in a new patient." said the nurse as she started to shut the curtain.

Victor Hoffman looked at his niece with a bigger smile, a smile rarer then the last one. "Now you have a roommate, so that means your company problem is solved." he laughed, laughing in itself was another rarity.

Ezra understood that her uncle was just as awkward around her as she was around him, so she understood him not wanting to stick around. It was funny how it tugged on her heart to see him want to leave her so bad though. Family should always stick together and she knew that, but she was starting to think her uncle didn't.

She glared at him, not thinking him funny at all. "Uncle Victor, just go if you must." she said as she closed her eyes. He sighed and bent down to kiss her forehead. And with that he left her alone.

A few moments later she heard some rustling and voices through the curtain. "Doc, do I really need to stay in this filthy place?" asked a deep voice in complete revulsion. Ezra detested this place just as much but she was sure he had no room to complain until he had been there as long as she had.

"Like I told you already Lance Corporal Baird, wretches carry all kinds of bacteria and diseases, and we have to keep you here a few days to make sure nothing develops in that wound. The last thing you want is infection. We would have to amputate it, and I am sure that you wouldn't want me to amputate the arm that you worked so hard to save in the first place." said the doctor who was on call tonight. She heard some sighing from the one they called Baird. Why did that name seem familiar as well as his voice? She thought to herself.

She stared down at her hands that rest on her lap as she tried to place the name and voice to a face. It wasn't working though. Maybe she was just imagining that she may know the man on the other side of the curtain. It really didn't matter, anyone was better than being left alone again.

"Okay. Fine." said Baird's deep voice, in what seemed like anger. He was angry though, he didn't want to be cooped up in a hospital that was sure to fall apart anytime now, with some stranger. Definitely with some stranger, he thought heatedly.

The nurse then opened the curtain to reveal the man to Ezra. He was the man who she had asked to hit her on the Raven, which was why the name Baird seemed familiar. He laid back and hadn't noticed her yet.

She stared wide eyed at him, unsure on how to feel about sharing a room with him. It is my fault that he hit me though, she thought, I have no right to be angry with him about the hit. Maybe I am just upset for the things he said about me on the raven? She asked herself as the Nurse took her time getting him settled in. After a few minutes they were left alone in the dirty hospital room.

"This place is a damned mess." he remarked as he looked around. The bed they had placed him in didn't even have a sheet for heaven's sake. He grunted but shrugged. "If I don't get infection from the wretch, surely I will get one from being in this place."

She huffed, and he finally looked over at her. He choked as he stared at her. "It's you!" he said loudly, like it pained him to know that he was sharing a room with her. Which it was because he didn't want to be around her.

Seriously it was like fate was laughing at him like the bitch that she was. Why out of all the room in this hospital had they put him in this one? She had called him a cocksucker. So of course he didn't want to anywhere near her. He didn't even care that she had simply said that to get him angry so he would hit her.

"Yeah it is me, the evil bitch is what I think you called me." she said sourly at him. His head fell against the pillows in exasperation. Well I guess that means that we are even really, he thought. I called her a bitch and she called me a cocksucker, that is about as even as it gets. "If it makes you feel any better, I only said that because you are an evil bitch." he said, trying to make a joke to lighten his own mood.

Silence greeted his joke. He turned his head to look at her. She was glaring at him, with what looked like unshed tears in her eyes. He sat up. "Look I am sorry." he said actually meaning it for several different reasons. He was sorry he said that to her, and he was sorry about how he had said all those mean things about her on the Raven. Ah the power of unshed tears to make a man apologize when they wouldn't have for any other reason.

He wavered in her vision. How embarrassing, she thought to herself as she rubbed her stomach. She was sure that he didn't see her do so as her hand ran over her lower stomach.

More silence filled the air. It was several silent minutes before she spoke. "I have to use the restroom, but they said they didn't want me moving by myself. But every time I call that bitch to help me she shows up twenty minutes later. I know there aren't that many nurses and apparently this place is packed, but I really have to go, and I would rather go now not later."

As she spoke her voice grew angrier. It made her feel so weak because she had to rely on others just to use the restroom. It was a very sad existence for her at the moment.

He tried not to laugh at her. She wasn't fazed by what he had said to her, she just had to go to the restroom. "When I get up, don't look." she said as she swung her legs over the bed. After the first time she had used the restroom on her own she had gotten in trouble, because she pulled at her stitches enough to make them bleed. So now the stitches were more irritated and hurt more than they would have if she would of just listened and were able to hold in the need to urinate.

"Well if you aren't supposed to move without help, why are you?" he asked as he stared at her dumbfounded. Why do something that was only in the end going to hurt her? Then again holding in her need to use the restroom could hurt her as well. So both would hurt her. He sighed, not knowing what to do. Nothing, that is what I will do, he thought.

He wasn't obligated to do anything, so he just sat there, staring at her.

She sighed at him and stared down at her legs that dangled awkwardly off the bed. She could almost see the one leg was longer than the other. Could being shot in the thigh do that to her? No, it couldn't. She sighed again and looked up at him.

"I have to go now, so I am going to go now, not twenty minutes from now." she said as she stood on shaky legs. She put all her weight on the on the one leg that was perfectly okay and the IV pole that she had pulled closer to her so she could use the thing as a crutch.

She grunted in pain and her eyebrows knitted together. She stared down at the floor and caught her breath. Just standing up winded her. She felt ashamed for being such a weakling.

"Do you need me to help you?" he asked, feeling sorry for her. She shook her head and started limping to the bathroom. "It's only four bloody steps. I can get there on my own." she said nicely, well as nice as she could to a man she sort of despised at the time being.

She was a proud woman, he could see that now. It wasn't that she didn't really need his help; she just couldn't ask him for it. She was too stubborn and proud. He could have laughed at her for it but he didn't. He was the same way when he was injured. He was like that to Marcus just today over his arm.

But then she faltered. The leg that had been injured suddenly twisted at an awkward angel due to a muscle spasm. Her eyes widened in shock of the pain that ripped up her leg and into her butt and back. She bit her lip to keep from screaming as she fell to the ground.

"Shit." he whispered as he jumped out of his bed. His heart beat a mile a minute as he was sure somehow her uncle would blame this entire incident on him. He was at her side in a moment, trying to help her stand back up.

He could see Hoffman now screaming at him for allowing his niece to do something so stupid. Then he had to wonder, would Hoffman really do something like that. Probably not, but it didn't hurt for him to cover his own ass just in case.

Tears fell down her cheeks as he helped her to her feet. "Just help me back to bed, please." she said in her most 'that didn't hurt as much as it looked like it did' voice. He wasn't stupid though, he knew it hurt her as much as it looked like it did. She gritted her teeth when she straightened her back and leg with his gentle help.

His hands were on both of her elbows. His grip was sturdy but gentle; he couldn't afford to hurt her again while trying to help her. She trembled in his grip and without a doubt then he knew that she was in a massive amount of pain.

"Are you okay?" he asked, even though he didn't need to, as he helped her sit back down on her bed. "No, I think I am bleeding again." she cried, she tried to hold herself back from crying in front of him, but she couldn't. With the back of her hand she wiped her nose as tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Here let me look." he demanded as he reached out to her hospital gown that had seen better days. She pushed his hands away gently though. "No, I am naked underneath. I can't wear clothes like you are getting to do." she said with a voice that was cracking with the ache of her body.

He looked up at her, seeing her blush a deep crimson. "It is fine, you don't have nothing I haven't ever seen. Or I can just call the nurse and she will be here in twenty minutes. That's a long time to wait to find out if you are bleeding or not." he said, moving his hands to her hospital gown yet again.

Her face fell into defeat. He was right of course and she actually should be thankful that he was here to help her. The last time she had just laid there waiting for help for the longest time before someone came to her aid.

No matter how thankful she should have been for him being there she just felt very self conscious. He had already seen her practically naked so surely he should have realized that wasn't the real issue at hand.

"But I am hideous." she finally blurted out angrily after battling an internal war to let him help her or not. "I think since this war started, everyone is hideous." he said hopeful that would lift her spirits. "Plus I already saw you all shot up… again, not seeing nothing I haven't seen before." he stated as he leaned into her so he could look into her eyes to see if she got his point.

Obviously she did get his point because she looked away from him. She felt uncomfortable now that he said that. He took that as a sign to look at her stitches. He moved her gown enough to look at her outer thigh, which was fine. "Okay, turn a little so I can see your shoulder." he instructed after he told her that her leg was fine.

He untied the top of the gown to look at her back. Her shoulder stitches were fine too. He retied her gown and then moved to her stomach. He bunched her gown a certain way to move it so he could hide her nakedness from himself, which she was thankful for. Her stomach stitches looked fine too, but he was amazed at how marred she really was. She did look bad, in the sense that she looked to be sewn together in many different places.

"Good news, you are not bleeding." he said in the most reassuring voice that he could possible muster. He moved her gown back, and moved away from her. "You make it sound like there is bad news." she said, in a self conscious voice.

"There is bad news." he said as he crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at her.

"Then what is it?" she asked as she stared up at him, her forehead frowning in confusion.

"You are not that hideous." he said with a smile. He laughed at his own joke. He stopped laughing at stared at her like she was completely crazy. Nothing, not even a pity laugh. Was this woman impossible to joke with? He thought angrily.

She looked down at her lap feeling awkward. "You are so weird, you know." he spat as he took another step away from her. "I know." she replied in almost a whisper. Awkward silence fell over the both of them as he stared at her downcast head.

"What's your name?" he asked suddenly, trying to change the subject before he became pissed off with her over the silence that had enveloped them.

"Morg." she said as she picked at a thread on her hospital gown nervously.

"No, your first name stupid. I know your damned last name." he grumbled at her through gritted teeth.

"Ezra." she whispered after a moment of just staring down at her lap.

"That is a beautiful name. Just like you." he said shocked. She had managed to shock him, she did have a very beautiful name, and in truth he didn't think she was bad looking either. She wasn't the usual beauty, but he couldn't be picky in the time of war. He chuckled to himself. Picky, man I am good, he thought as he shook his head at himself.

Her head snapped up and she looked up at him wide eyed. "No matter how many ugly scars you have, and let me tell you they are ugly scars, you are beautiful." he explained as the corner of his mouth lifted into a sincere smile.

She just stared at him in silence. "What is the matter with you?" he asked angrily. "I give you a damned compliment and all you do is sit there and stare at me." he growled as he rested his hands on his hips. His face was contorted with anger and she was sure if he had been wearing his goggles that he had been before they would have rode up on his forehead.

Speaking of his forehead, he had tan lines where his goggles rested. She blinked a few times and tried not to react. She wanted to laugh and point it out to him, but she couldn't. Ah but it was so funny that she could see the paleness of skin that was always hidden beneath those goggles. She just guessed that he was wearing them that one time, but obviously he always wore them.

"I am in a lot of pain." she finally said, after she quit staring at his forehead. She slapped a hand over her mouth, she hadn't meant to tell anyone that, but she just did. She had been in her own world that she just spoke without thinking.

"If you're in pain, then ask for pain medicine." he said as if it was the simplest thing for her to do. "I did three hours ago." she cried as she blinked the tears out of her eyes. She sure was doing a lot of crying that she had vowed that she wouldn't do.

He looked at her with pity; this woman was a nut case because she was in pain, not because she was well just a nut case. "I am usually not like this, but I hurt so much. Plus I feel so ugly." she admitted, feeling better for getting things off of her chest. Even if it was getting things off her chest to Baird.

He had been nice to her though. So she confided in him. It was nice of him to say she was beautiful, but she couldn't believe him. She did believe he would say anything to make her feel better though, which she also believed was out of character for him. "War don't make people pretty, sweetheart. But it does make people hurt." he said gently. She couldn't help but frown at him, had he really just called her sweetheart?

He sighed once he realized what he said. He wasn't the comforting type, he was the type who just said things that made it worse. Yet here he was just comforting the hell out of this woman. Pity was a harsh emotion to deal with, made people act out in unusual ways.

"I will go get a nurse. Stay here." he said as he left he alone, crying silently. "Not like I can go anywhere." she mocked to herself with a sharp laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Okay, so I would have everyone know, I have written the ending to this story finally! Now I just have to finish writing all the chapters on the revision and better tie in the ending . It is going to take awhile to get finished I am not going to lie; I just hope you guys find it worth the wait. I do have to explain though, I am joining the military, and I just started my Pre-Dentistry. So my priorities are literally: 1. School, 2. Working out, 3. Studying for my DAT, 4. Family and Friends, 5. Working on everything else that doesn't include ten years of college. I just wanted to give everyone and idea on why this is going to take awhile, but I promise it will be finished one day lol.

Ic3ColDNukaCola: thank you for your review and I am sorry that you didn't like the bra scene, all I can say is I liked it that is why I wrote it. I do thank you for your input though. One thing though, please don't take my author notes so personally. I am not defending myself to people who just are giving me constructive criticism, like you, to someone who is just being a troll, like someone who just emails me that my story completely sucks because my character is a "mary sue". I can tell the difference from a flamer and someone who just has advice. Yet thank you again for your input, it was valued.

Lightan117: Thank you so much for leaving a review, it means so much that you did! And thank you so much for enjoying my story! I love you btw lol

: I already told you I loved you, but here it is again. I love you! Thank you so much for your review!

She glared at him with an intensity that she was surprised that she could muster in her state of lack of sleep and pain. He was asleep unlike her, and snoring, rather loudly. She knew she was over exaggerating, but the noise he was emitting from his throat sounded like a rusty grind lift. She would be able to sleep through a battle, but not through his sleeping. How in hell had he managed not to wake himself up by his own snoring was beyond her. So she glared at him, her eyes in slits just to show how angered she was by his snoring. She wanted to wake him up, to stop the annoying loud noise, but he had been nice to her earlier, helping her up, and even getting the nurse for her. She figured being nice was out of his character because the rest of the night he had sneered at her. At least he had helped though. So she let him continue to make that monstrous noise that kept her awake when she should be the one resting.

It was awkward laying there, glaring at him, but she couldn't look away. Her eyes were completely glued to him in awe and anger. Awe because she was just sure any moment he would wake himself up, and anger because he wouldn't shut up. As she glared, she took the time to study him. He was rough looking, but oddly attractive to her. It had been a long time since she allowed herself to even admit that someone was attractive. She bit down her emotions and let her eyes scan his face. He had a few facial scars, but it added character to his sleeping face. The only thing she didn't like was his patch of blond hair under his bottom lip, she figured he thought it made him look good, but she thought otherwise. She let her eyes trace his face so she could remember it. It was something she used to always do, commit faces to memory. She never forgets a face, she made sure of that. Plus one day she was determined to repay him for the bruise on the side of her face, and she had to remember what he looked like.

"Can you stop staring at me?" he asked, not bothering to open his eyes as he spoke to her. His voice was just slightly louder than a whisper, but it didn't hide the annoyed tone that struck her ears like a switch. "No, you quit snoring, and I will quit staring." she mumbled as she still glared at him. She hadn't noticed that for the past three or four minutes he hadn't been snoring. She had been too busy glaring to notice that he had woken up. He grunted loudly and finally opened his eyes to look at her. She gulped loudly as her black eyes met his light blue green eyes. His eyes held his annoyance at her. She didn't care, annoyance made his eyes all the more appealing.

"You know it is rather hard to sleep when you keep staring at me like that." he said, as he continued to hold her gaze. She took notice that his voice had grown softer when he said that, but his eyes stayed hard at her. "Well, it is even harder to sleep when you won't shut the hell up. You sound like a dying bear or a rusty grind lift." she whispered, starting to feel small in his gaze. She didn't let it show. He sighed rather loudly, exasperated with her, which he also did so he wouldn't laugh at her analogy. Do I really snore that bad? He wondered to himself.

Silence engulfed them like a wild flame and she just continued to stare at him. There was a certain look in her black eyes that he could not place. He furrowed his brows into and intense frown as he continued to stare back at her.

Baird raised an eyebrow finally in question when she persisted to just stare at him. "What?" he spat, confused that she wouldn't look away. His face was contorted with anger because like anyone who has been stared at as long as he has, he felt like a trapped animal. "I have to use the restroom again." she whispered, embarrassed that she was about to ask him for help. But she didn't have to; he got up with an angry groan and came to assist her. She was at his mercy and she knew that, and she thanked whatever higher power out there that he pitied her enough to come to her aid. She envied him at this moment. He was in the hospital, but didn't have to wear the ugly embarrassing gown that gaped in the back, and didn't have an IV hooked to his arm as she did. "Come on, swing your legs over the side." he said as he came to stand next to her bed.

He removed her blanket gently, laying it to the side, and then watched as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. He put a hand on her elbow and pulled her to her unsteady feet. She swayed but didn't worry for his grip on her arm was firm, and he wouldn't have helped her up just to watch her fall now. "This is so embarrassing." she mumbled as he started to escort her gently to the bathroom. "Damned right it is. I am not a fucking nurse." he spat at her. His voice was all annoyance pointed straight at her. She looked up at him, surprised to find him smiling at his own joke, though. Again he was trying to make her not feel so awkward. He opened the door with one hand for her and helped her to a hand rail next to the toilet. "Call me when you're done." he said as he left her to do her business.

"Damon." she called a few moments later after she was done. He came in looking a mix of emotions, most of all being stunned, the other uneasy. "What?" she asked confused as he grabbed her elbow gently yet firmly. "I'm just not used to anyone calling me by my first name anymore." he explained. She nodded in acknowledgement, understanding that military life sometimes made people forget that they had a first name. It didn't explain why he looked uneasy though. She would have questioned him further but she figured it was none of her business.

He escorted her back her bed and tucked her back in. "Now go to sleep and don't stare at me." he said with a huff.

"Well then quit snoring." she whispered. He huffed as he lay back down in his bed.

"Um, Damon, thank you." she whispered as she looked over at him. He was on his side, turned away from her. He shrugged his shoulders and then pretended to be asleep. He didn't want to get too friendly with this woman. Even though he was having a harder and harder time trying to be mean to her. It was like nice just came out in him while he was around her.

He wasn't sure he liked the feeling that she had the power to make him feel nice to her. He decided that it was because of the state she was in. He decided it was not being nice, it was him pitying her. It was something he was sure that she thought. She had to think that he pitied her.

It didn't help that he liked the way she said his name. Something so entirely simple as saying his name made him feel…. Feel what exactly? Good? Maybe that was what he was feeling. It was nice to know someone could call him by his first name, it made things more personal. He sighed heavily and tried to change his thoughts to something else. He couldn't turn his mind from her though.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Two days later she was alone, again. Baird had been released a day ago when there was no sign of infection developing. The lucky bastard, she thought as a sigh escaped her lips. She stared blankly at the nasty ceiling as she listened to the battle rage outside her window. While Baird had been in here with her, she hadn't even noticed the war out there. She missed him already, well not really him, but the company of human contact. Well, okay maybe him just a tad bit. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she rather liked his brash personality and his company in general. He made her laugh, well not really laugh, just want to laugh. Laughing wasn't an option, her stitches wouldn't allow it. She for only a moment even missed the horrible snoring.

She shook her head and immediately rid herself of the notion that she missed his snoring. There was no one who could miss that.

She played with a hangnail as she thought, trying to block out the screams through the barrier of her window. She hissed in pain when she pulled the hangnail off. It bled, but only a little bit. She put her finger in her mouth and sucked on it, which stopped the bleeding, and soothed the sting.

It was chilling to know that she lay in bed and could hear screams and feel the rumble of the ground, and couldn't do a damned thing about it. She took her finger from her mouth and examined it slightly before a frag grenade exploded a click away, or what she presumed was a click away from the sound it had made. Even though it was that far away, dust and a ceiling tile fell to the ground of her small hospital room. Some of the dust fell into her lap, and she coughed and dusted herself off. She looked to the window and thought that the battle was getting closer to the safe zone, or what the COG now called base. They were going to have to move sooner then they all thought they were going to have to do. Another frag went off, but a lot closer then the first one had.

She sat up in bed and looked out of the dirt filmed window again. That last frag was actually a lot closer then she had thought. She could see the smoke from her window.

Sirens began to go off louder than normal at that moment. Then a blast went off and the wall that stood between her and the outside world fell into rubble. The blast knocked her bed over on its side, making her fall out of it as if she were a sack of potatoes. She shrieked loudly in pain and grabbed her middle. It took a instant for her to recover from the mind numbing pain that had shot through her. She looked at her stitches quickly to make sure they were still intact, which they were. She prayed silently to thank for that, because she was very lucky not to have split open any of her stitches when she tumbled out of the bed when it was turned over on her.

She sat up and crawled under the bed that Baird had laid on when he was in the hospital with her with her elbows. She couldn't get her legs to work for her, yet she didn't have time to worry over them as she crawled. She hid herself there because she heard grubs running around where her wall had once stood. She trembled in fear as her fingers took the IV out of her hand. The IV had been twisted at an odd angle, making her hand go numb. As she pulled it free of her hand, blood squirted up into her face, and she jumped because she had not expected it to do that, or hurt as much as it did. She clamped her free hand over the bleeding hand to stop the blood that sprayed forth. In a few minutes the blood clotted over, stopping the bleeding.

Fear gripped her again when she saw a Locust run past her. If she would have been dressed in her armor, with a bayonet to protect her, she would feel fine. She didn't even have a knife to protect herself with, so she was afraid.

She had already shook death's hand recently; she didn't feel like walking hand in hand with it today. She closed her eyes, and tried to blend with the shadows of the bed. She knew though in the back of her mind that she hadn't survived what she had just to die in a dingy hospital gown, cowering under a hospital bed.

Xxxxxxxxx

It had been two days since the Locust had over taken the base, and Delta squad was ready to depart to a new safe zone. They knew when they lost ground and this ground they had definitely lost. "Dom, you drive the APC. Cole, you lay down cover fire with me. Baird, navigate." barked Marcus as he crawled on top of the APC. Everyone nodded.

Baird turned to look at Hoffman who was helping Anya into a Raven Gunship. He then scanned the area. There were three cargo trucks filled with patients from the hospital. Curiosity got the better of him and he did a quick scan of the cargo trucks to look for the new Delta member. He checked quickly, and furiously for they didn't have too much time to waste on him searching for her. He only found her missing among the patients.

"Hoffman." he called over the COMM as he let go the flap to the last jeep he had come to.

"This better be good Baird." replied Hoffman on the COMM. Baird could almost feel the hate through the COMM that had been pointed at him from Hoffman.

"Just wondering where your niece is." Baird responded in a rude voice as he turned to look at the older man who was standing next to the ready to depart Raven.

Baird watched as realization hit Hoffman like a bag of bricks. Hoffman looked stunned and more then angry with himself. Both Hoffman and Baird turned to look at the almost demolished Hospital a click away. Without a second thought Baird checked to see if his Lancer was secured on his back before he took off sprinting in the direction of the Hospital. "Boy, I can get my niece." said Hoffman into the COMM. Baird huffed as he was gaining on the Hospital's entrance.

"But I am quicker than you old man." was all Baird said as he entered the Hospital, skidding to a halt to listen. He unholstered his lancer and aimed around as he listened.

It was dark inside, and already smelled like stinking Locust grubs. It was silent so he took that as a sign as there were no grubs inside. He ran all the way to her room, encountering only a rat on the way. He entered the room quietly so not to draw any grubs his way. He reholstered the gun as he began looking for her.

"Ezra?" he whispered harshly as he searched desperately.

Then he saw her. She laid belly down with her head turned to the side, staring at the door lifelessly. His heart sank instantly. He had never looked at a more pitiful dead body. He walked over and bent down to close her eyes. She grabbed his ankle in a whimper. He had to bite his lip to keep from screaming as he fell back onto his ass. He looked horrified at her tear stained face, she looked like a crazed zombie as she glared up at him. "If you lay here and look dead, the grubs don't know the difference." she said as she tried to roll over onto her back.

"You scared the shit out of me." he whispered in a mad voice.

"That's what that smell is." she said with a half smile. He grumbled as he got back up. "So I guess you came to save me?" she asked, actually in a nervous voice as she stared into his eyes.

"Yes." he grunted as he bent down and helped her stand up.

"Baird?" she whispered helplessly.

"Yes." he said as he looked into her eyes, he was confused on why she switched back to using his last name.

"I can't walk. I already tried, but I fell on my belly and couldn't get back up. My leg isn't responding like it should today, or maybe it just hurts to fucking much." she explained, biting her lip nervously after she was done talking. It made her nervous to be like this, helpless. He grumbled to himself about how she was a big burden. In the end he picked her up though. One arm under the crook of her knees and the other under her shoulders. He took care not to bother her stitches as he did so. She wrapped her trembling arms around his neck so she could hold onto him. "Thank you for coming." she whispered, her voice covered in pain. "Welcome." was all he said as he started to leave the Hospital.

Once they entered the hallway again he was greeted with a great problem. There stood a squad of grubs. He gently placed her behind some cover as the first grub noticed him there. It spoke in a language he didn't understand and they all turned and started to fire.

Baird pulled out his Lancer and started to fire. He got lucky; his first shot buried itself into a skull, dropping the grub instantly. "Gun." she called, trying to get him to pass her his Boltok Pistol, but he ignored her. She grabbed his pants and pulled herself up crotch level with him. Which was hard for her to do. He glanced down at her with a wicked smile on his face, making him look devilishly attractive. She frowned for thinking such things about him. This was war, she couldn't stop and smell the roses with this man, she needed to get a grip. "I could get used to that." he joked before turning and firing again, dropping the second grub, leaving six more.

"Bet you could." she joked back, but in a serious tone that suggested that she didn't like the joke. She pulled out the Boltok Pistol from the holster at his hip roughly. She crawled into a position so she could help, and stay safe from oncoming fire. She took aim and shot a grub, making its head explode on contact with the bullet. She had forgotten these guns were like the Longshot rifles, very powerful. A smile spread across her face, she felt that satisfaction of dropping her first grub in over a week.

He dropped four more grubs, and she wounded the rest. He hurried over to finish them off before coming back to pick her up. "We make a good team." she said, happy that she got to use a gun again, and feeling important. He laughed and took the pistol and put is back in the holster. "Right." he joked as he made sure that she was secure in his arms.

Walking back outside he was greeted with the rest of the Delta squad who were about to come in for back up. "Here." said Baird as he passed Ezra into Marcus' arms. She looked at him confused but then she noticed he favored his left side. "You have been shot." she said as she pointed to his side. He looked back at her, angry that she said that aloud. "Leave it to you, to get shot baby." laughed Cole. "First you let a wretch get you, now this?" joked Dom. Baird rolled his eyes, he hated when he got hurt, no one was going to let him live this down.

He glared at Ezra, until his face softened, again whatever power she had over him made him want to be nice. She looked apologetic, and it made his anger dissipate. He was beginning to think that this power might turn out to be a good friendship. While he was in the hospital with her, he felt like he could cut loose, and relax. He felt like more of himself in her presence. It made him feel hopeful, and indifferent at the same time.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Here is another chapter, hopefully you guys find it to enjoyable. Please review.**

**TheDarkestShadowsAmongstLight: I don't remember if I told you thank you for your review, but here it is if I haven't already, Thank you so much! You put a huge smile on my face!**

Now that she was in the arms of another, she felt extremely awkward. She had forgotten that she was still only wearing that dreadful hospital gown that split down the center of her back, and she was naked beneath it didn't make her feel any better about it. She looked up into Marcus Fenix's dark blue eyes. He glanced down at her and attempted to smile. His smile came out more like a half smile that made his face twist into a funny look. Guess he feels weird too, she thought as she tried to smile back. She then turned her gaze to Hoffman, who came running up to scope out the damage.

As he arrived at their side, the older man was winded, making Ezra wish for the end of the war so her uncle could rest, where they all could rest. He checked her over thoroughly, cursing aloud the entire time. Marcus cleared his throat in discomfort as Hoffman cursed Marcus for not holding her more gently. He smiled when he found out that Ezra was more than okay though, well as okay as she could be at a time like this.

She tried not to sigh at her uncle, it was embarrassing to be fussed over like she was a child in front of all these men. She didn't let that weakness show though; she didn't want them to think her weaker than she already was. She let him look over her wounds because she knew he wouldn't take her word that she was alright; he had to see for himself.

Once he was done she tried to reposition herself against Marcus. She could feel his armor through the thin material of the gown and it hurt. His chest plate dug into her side aggravating her wounds. She didn't complain about it because she had already burdened them enough.

"Baird has been hit." she stated to her uncle when he seemed to not even care about the man who saved her life. It worked though; it turned his careful hawk like attention away from her to her savior.

"Hurt again, Baird?" Hoffman teased the younger man who only a few minutes before called him an old man. Her face fell into disappointment at her uncle. She realized these men had deep issues, but was it too hard to say 'how are you' or forbid the heavens 'thank you'.

It wasn't like Baird had just risked his life to save her or anything. He saved someone who should still be lying in the hospital floor, pretending to be dead. Her uncle could be more grateful for Baird's assistance. He didn't have to do that for her at all. Baird didn't have to risk his own life to save her. It just happened that he had risked his life to save her, and he was due a big thank you from not only her, but her uncle.

She opened her mouth to address her Hoffman, but for some reason she couldn't form any words because a wave a pain flashed over her. Her body tensed making her squeeze herself against Marcus and her face contorted. She bit her lip to keep from yelping from the pain. Her toes curled as the pain ran from her stomach, down her hips, into her legs, and to her feet. Marcus looked down at her but as quickly as the pain came, it was gone and she settled down, loosening her muscles against him again.

She breathed hard for a few moments, waiting to see if the pain would return to her. It didn't so she let go a long breath. Her eyes nearly rolled back into her head in happiness that the pain for the moment was gone. She then looked back to her uncle in anger forgetting about her sudden moment of intense pain.

Hoffman sighed as he looked at Ezra's face. He knew he should be more thankful to Baird, but it was hard to say thank you to a man that he has despised since he had first met him. He sighed again, this time louder and more visibly, and looked back to Baird.

"You two will ride in the Raven with Anya, and a doctor so we can get you sewn up, if you need it that is. Fenix, I will navigate for you." said Hoffman as he motioned everyone to get a move on. It was the closest thing to a thank you that Bair was going to get out of that man.

Baird looked as if he was going to argue, but Hoffman had already turned away so Baird couldn't get a word in edgewise. Baird stared into Hoffman's back as if he wished the older man would suddenly combust into flames.

Baird then glanced at Ezra and she was staring at her uncle with the same look on her dirty face.

Xxxxxxxxx

Ravens always made her sick. Flying in general made her sick. The doctor fixed the pillows that they had brought on to make her and Baird more than comfortable. It had been twenty minutes since they had patched Baird's wound. It had been just a shot gun graze, which was still bad enough to make a man hurt, but not bad enough to merit stitches. Now he sat back against his propped up pillows without any worries in the world.

He didn't have any worries at the moment either. He didn't have to ride anywhere near Hoffman or Fenix. His life in this raven for the moment was made. It was time for him to rest, so he made sure to enjoy it because this fleeting moment wouldn't last forever.

She looked up at him sickly from where she was propped up on her pillows. He turned to look at her with a wide smile. Her brows furrowed together into a deep frown. Was he happy? Flying shouldn't make anyone look that happy. "I like flying in Ravens." he explained as he looked back out of the cockpits' opened bay. He looked down at the APC that the Delta squad was on, happy to have a break of his squad members as well. It was the best thing in the world right now to be away from them. Cole he missed, but not Dom or Marcus. Well, Dom was a good guy. He guessed the only one he didn't really give a shit about was Marcus to be honest. **(BTW I love Marcus, just getting into Baird's character.)**

Now his company was a bit dull, truth be told, since he was being honest and all. In moments like these he realized he missed the banter back and forth of his squad members. He never enjoyed being the ass of most of the jokes, yet it in its own way made him feel a part of a family, a dysfunctional family, but a family none the less. That was something that was crucial during wars. Everyone needed to feel a part of something.

He turned to look at Ezra. He wondered what kind of person she was when she wasn't battered to hell and back. She was probably a really cool person to be around. Or maybe she was always a brash bitch that he had no qualms about smacking the shit out of. He felt guilty for thinking that, but he was sure he still didn't feel an ounce bit sorry for smacking her. Bitch deserved it, he thought. Well actually she didn't deserve it really and he knew it. He just wanted to justify hitting her that day.

Baird had never abused a woman before so he thought he needed to try to make it a just situation. It was knock her out, or watch her suffer. He had done the right thing right? He sighed as he tried to no longer think about it, even though he could see the bruise hugging her cheek.

"You look green." he commented on her appearance when she wouldn't stop staring back at him. He was starting to like the way she openly stared at him, without caring what he thought about it. His thoughts had turned so quickly from hitting her to caring for her as he lost himself in her eyes.

"While flying makes you happier than a fucking peach, flying makes me sicker than a person with rustlung." she said through clenched teeth. She was afraid if she opened her mouth too much she might spew her guts all over the cockpit. And she was sure that would make everyone more than rattled with her if she spewed like a geyser all over them. If she did puke her guts up, it wouldn't make her feel any better, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Close your eyes and think of something pleasant." he suggested as he looked back out of the cockpit's bay. She sighed and tried it, but nothing pleasant came to mind. Just the same things that horrified her every time she closed her eyes in the first place. She grunted and her eyes flew open quickly. She blinked quickly and rid herself of her personal nightmares.

"Doesn't work." she whispered as she stared at her hands that were folded in her lap. She rubbed her thumbs together, trying to just concentrate on the feeling of skin on skin, and that just made her all the sicker for some reason which she wasn't even sure of.

"Didn't say it worked for everyone." he grumbled as he ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair. His scalp itched like crazy due to the amount of dried blood and dirt that was in it. He would give a leg to have a bath right about now. To feel clean again, even if it were for no longer than ten minutes.

She sighed and looked at Anya, who was busy looking at a navigation chart on the Raven's computer. "So she is it? The woman who has captured Marcus's heart?" she asked, trying to concentrate on anything other than her queasiness.

Baird looked at her more than stunned. "How did you know that?" he asked as his eyes instantly focused on Anya. He was glad Anya couldn't hear them over her own thoughts, and if she did hear them, she didn't give any sign that she did.

"Doesn't everyone?" she asked in return still letting her black eyes wonder over Anya. She was the prettiest of the Strouds, nothing like her hard ass mother, Major Helena Stroud. Helena was a bitch, and Anya was sweet. Sweet was the only thing that Ezra could think of to call Anya, for Anya was sweet. Ezra wondered if Anya was pushed though, would her mother come out in her at all. Maybe one day she would push Anya to see. Or maybe one day she would have to pleasure of seeing someone else push her to the breaking point. Ezra felt bad for thinking like that, but she wanted to know the woman who was now supposed to back her on the battle field.

It didn't matter that Anya wasn't a fighter, she was a key important figure to the Delta squad. One lapse in judgment on Anya's part could send one of them walking into a death trap. Anya was obviously good at her job, hadn't killed any of them yet.

"Well obviously not because she is engaged to Prescott." he whispered as he scooted closer to her so he could gossip like an old woman. He then felt odd. He had really just scooted closer to a woman so he could gossip, it didn't get more awkward than that, or more sad. What was he a woman? But then again deep down, he loved talking about Marcus's screwed up life. It made him forget that he had his own screwed up life to worry about.

He hadn't noticed that he had scooted close enough for her to smell his cologne. He smelled like sandalwood. "Are you wearing cologne?" she asked, already knowing the answer, but just wanting him to admit it. "Not cologne, the soap I wash with smells like this." he said as he looked at her funny. He was dirty, very dirty, but she could smell the soap that was days old on his skin? It made him a slight bit happy that he didn't smell like a locust corpse.

She sighed, upset that she had been wrong. But no matter, she enjoyed the smell. She enjoyed it very much. She could also feel some of his body heat. Usually she would think this too close for comfort. She was beginning to get used to him being around, so it didn't bother her so much.

Truth be told though, it was cold up in the cockpit of the Raven, and his body heat was more than welcome. She had in her mind to scoot closer, but she didn't. She stayed her ground, enjoying the little heat that was offered to her.

"So she is engaged?" she whispered as her lids started to grow a slight bit heavy. Her eyes fluttered, but she managed to keep them open so she could still stare at Anya as they spoke.

"Yes. But she is calling it off to be with Marcus." he whispered back into her ear when he turned his head so he could make sure no one heard them.

She shivered when his warm breath embraced her cheek when he spoke. She nodded and stared at Anya. "How do you get engaged when there is this much catastrophe around you?" she asked in a whisper, more to herself then to anyone else. It did puzzle her and she was open to any answer that anyone could give her.

"It is easy, you just ask someone to marry you." he said as if it were really that simple.

"I know that, I mean like…. Never mind." she grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest in hopes that would help warm her against the cold. She ran her hands up and down on her upper arms, creating the needed friction for heat.

"Oh come on. It is easy in the time of war to get engaged. All you have to do is ask 'Will you marry me?'." he said as he rolled his eyes at her.

"Yes Damon, I will marry you." she giggled at him as she rubbed her hands up and down on her arms more slowly now.

He looked at her confused, he knew that the pain medicine was kicking in now for her, but was she really this loopy? Her black eyes looked clouded from the medicine, which he was happy to see that. He wouldn't know how to take that joke from her if she was sober.

"What?" he asked as his brows furrowed together.

"You asked me to marry you and I said yes. Plus earlier you said you could get used to me being around you." she giggled happily. The drugs had kicked into that staged that made her happy before it kicked in to make her fall asleep. He should have been happy she was like this, that meant she didn't feel any pain.

"Oh I see, doc gave you a lot of pain medicine. And I never said that, I said I could get used to you being crotch level with me." he said to reassure himself. She giggled a little and shut her eyes, feeling more than happy, for no reason, well from the drugs. It wasn't long until she had fallen asleep.

He shook his head and turned back to look out of the bay again. Just as he looked out, he spotted four Khimera's pass by. When he joined the GEARS that was what he had always wanted to be, a Khimera pilot. They weren't a COG fighter helicopter, but he knew when he had signed up that they were trying to have them contracted into the COG to use against the Ostri Republic, as well as the Union of Independent Republics.

Now they were used by everyone, seeing how everyone was coming together to fight against the Locust Horde. Baird hadn't been assigned into anything dealing with Helicopters, he was a tech head, or that was what other GEARS called him. Well they also called him their living breathing Locust expert, and they chose Marcus above him to lead the Delta Squad. He scoffed loudly, making Ezra mumble angrily in her drug induced sleep. He had been upset from not getting to fly anything, but he had been happy to become an expert in something that they all needed an expert on, Locusts. Yet it pissed him off when he didn't get picked to lead the squad.

He was really intelligent when it came to those ugly grubs. He couldn't understand their spoken language, but he had deciphered it once it was written down, and if that didn't prove he was more capable than Marcus then nothing ever would prove it. That wasn't the only thing he was very capable of. Bomb making was another of his other many fortes. It was as easy for him to build a bomb as it was for him to shake a man's hand. Well sometimes it was hard to shake a man's hand. He wasn't too keen on touching others. Had a thing against it, he never understood the need to touch people.

People had germs, and he really never knew where their hands had been. He huffed. Way to be a germaphobe during time of war, where that was one thing that clung to him like a dirty whore.

"Baird, Hoffman wants you on the COMM now." said Anya, motioning him to turn it back on. He looked up at her, brought out of his thoughts.

"Sir?" he asked once he found the radio frequency that he was supposed to be on.

"Boy, what you did back there was a good show of courage. I am promoting you to Corporal again, son. Hoffman out."

Baird sneered at no one particular. Like the promotion would last. He had been promoted and demoted so many times that he was beginning to forget what his rank really was. He should be an officer again, but his attitude problem always got him pushed down. He knew his attitude was the reason that Marcus Fenix was the name of Delta squad instead of his, Damon Baird.

He grumbled angrily to himself because of his thoughts. His grumbling was disturbing her slumber so she grumbled back at him. He stopped to look at her. She looked as angry as he felt. He laughed at her then. He was beginning to like her. Which might end up being dangerous for him to do, but he couldn't stop himself from liking her.

She was contagious. Like a spreading disease that was soon going to take over his life or take his life. For heaven's sake, he had risked his life already for her; she might as well take over his life. He sat there and tried not to laugh as she sneered at him in her sleep.

He reached out and moved a few free stray strands of dirty chestnut hair out of her face. He wondered what her hair would look like if it were actually clean, because now it was dull and very dirty. He then realized he had seen her before, when her hair was glorious. It usually was a vibrant chestnut that captured the light and made you want to stare at it. In truth the more he sat there staring at her, fingering the strands of her dirty hair, the more he wanted to know about this woman.

Finally he dropped her hair, and gently stroked her cheek with his index finger. What would she feel like clean? He wondered as he smudged more dirt around on her face. What he would give to see her cleaned up again like that day at the academy. And what he would give for a decent bath himself for that matter (he really wants this bath lol).

He sat there and tried to remember that day at the academy, and all he could really remember that she had been so beautiful with her hair tied into a tight bun like all the girls that went to military school.

"Shit." was the only warning that brought Baird out of his deep thoughts about Ezra, and his hopefully sooner than later bath. He looked up just in time to spot the Nemacyst that was hurtling towards them. It took a moment for the realization that they were actually going to be hit struck him. "Fuck." he whispered as on instinct turned to cover Ezra's body with his own. Again he was trying to save this woman's life.

All he heard was the explosion to the rotter for he had squeezed his eyes shut. The feeling of the Raven falling to the ground caused him to black out because of that free falling feeling at faster pace than was desired. Yet falling out of the sky wasn't something he had ever desired to do.

xxxxxxxx

When she woke, she was in the most pain she had been in since she had been shot. Not only was she in severe pain, she was having a difficult time breathing. She was deciding that her life was now a test of survival through intense pain. She was sure whenever she really did die she was going to give whoever was testing her the finger, and an earful of the most vile curses she cold conjure.

It felt like something heavy was on her chest weighing her lungs down. She finally opened her eyes and focused her sight to find Baird passed out on top of her. He was the least of her worries.

She smelled smoke and imulsion, which was not a good sign. She looked around, and realization finally hit her. They had been hit, and crashed the Raven. And people used to tell her that she was dumb for hating to fly. This was the exact reason that she would keep her ass on the ground from now on. She didn't give a shit if she had to walk for a year to get where she was going. She would just have to tough it out, as long as she never flew again. If she was supposed to fly anyways she would have been born with wings, and since she was wingless, that meant her ass was meant to be ground bound.

She tried to crawl out from beneath Baird. Only proving to herself that he was heavier than he looked, and it hurt like hell because it pulled at her stitches. She had freed herself a little bit when Anya came to. Ezra turned to watch Anya throw the computer monitor that had fallen on top of her to the ground. Their eyes met.

"What's your status?" asked Ezra as she still kept trying to crawl from beneath Baird to no avail. "I think just a broken finger, other than that fine." said Anya as she collected herself. Ezra wished the only problem she had was a damned broken finger.

It took a moment for Anya to realize what she smelled. When realization passed over her face she looked at Ezra horrified. "Yeah we have to hurry, otherwise we are about to be barbecue." explained Ezra. Anya nodded and stood and checked the two pilots. Both dead from the impact of the Raven. She removed their tags and turned back to help Ezra free herself. It took both of them to roll Baird over, seeing how he was a heavy man, COG armor always made a man almost twice as heavy as they should be. Anya checked his pulse, and nodded to Ezra when she felt one beating rapidly against her finger tips.

"Anya, try to open that bay, and I will try to wake him up." ordered Ezra as she started to pat the side of Baird's face.

Anya immediately set out to her task, only turning to look at Ezra and Baird when Ezra gave a frustrated sigh. She turned back to the closed bay and started to pull it open. With a groan it opened and she turned just in time to see Ezra slap Baird hard across his face.

He woke with a start, grabbing Ezra by the throat. Her face immediately turned a dark crimson, and her eyes began to bulge slightly from the pressure. All of the precious air escaped her lungs as she let out a breath before she tried to suck in more. She couldn't get any air and she whimpered because of it. Ezra worked her hands up to his arm. She only felt the cold metal of his braces. Anya screamed at him, but it didn't get his attention.

Ezra did the only thing she knew how to do; she started to try to fight back. She squirmed under his hands, and she clawed at his face, for it was the only flesh of his not covered with armor. Her nails raked down his face, drawing blood under the skin from the pressure. She started to feel herself trying to slip into the darkness, so she clawed at his face all the harder, and tried to kick him. She managed to draw blood on the right side of his face for she dug her nails into his cheek so hard that it made her sick to feel his flesh under her nails like that.

He yelped in pain, and released her because he realized then that she was human and because he was killing her.

As soon as his hands left her throat, she fell over and gasped for air and coughing. His face felt raw and blood trickled down in rivulets from the four deep scratches she left on his cheek to his jaw. "Sorry." he said as he stood up and watched her struggle to breathe. He bent down to comfort her while he kept apologizing. At first she shied away from him like a kicked dog, but eventually she gave into his comfort.

She nodded that she knew he was sorry, and that she forgave him. Everyone had those moments and she couldn't blame him. But now she couldn't speak. He had crushed her windpipe so much that she couldn't even breathe enough to help form words. She wasn't damaged from it forever she could tell, but just at this moment she was.

"We don't have time to sit here anymore. We have to get the hell out of here. The smell is getting worse." demanded Anya as she looked over Baird's shoulder. Anya knew that Ezra probably didn't want to move because she had almost been choked to death, but there was no option for her to sit there and be roasted alive.

Both nodded. Anya was the first to crawl out, but she waited close by to help with Ezra, who still couldn't walk because she had damaged her leg when she had been shot. Baird scooped her up quickly, and not at all gently. She squealed in protest as her stitches on her shoulder pulled. He grunted to make her hush. Her fingers dug into his flesh of his neck, so she could try to concentrate on giving him pain as he had given her. He shook his head at her, and ignored the fact that he was now bleeding from where she had been digging her nails into him roughly. As if his face wasn't enough for her. He deserved it though, he had almost killed her.

He pushed her up and Anya helped pull her out of the cockpit. Baird soon followed them. Once out of the cockpit, he picked Ezra up again and followed Anya, who led them to some cover. Anya was the first to duck down and Baird just threw himself into the cover and cradled Ezra against himself to protect her. He felt like it was his job now to do nothing but protect her. And it wasn't because he was attracted to her, it was because he had almost just killed her.

She was now beginning to think that she was doomed the rest of her life to feel nothing but pain, like she felt now. She was sure of it, she was going to give someone the finger, whenever she found out who thought this was a good test for her to have to survive.

Now that she was calming down from the pain, she turned to look at his neck and face. At first she moved his shirt back slightly so she could see where she had wounded him. It was in the fleshy part of his shoulder that she had grabbed hold of. It was bleeding slightly and was an angry red. She then looked up at his face. The scratches there were angrier, and bleeding more. She hadn't thought she had gotten him that good.

"Sorry." she finally whispered, after building up enough air in her lungs to wheeze an apology out. "It is fine." he said, as he tried not to look at her. He was enjoying the feel of her in his lap too much to look at her. This was beginning to become dangerous for him.

_Maybe this is all in my head. Maybe it's not because I am attracted to her. It has to be that it is war and I haven't been with a woman in a while. _He thought as he looked to Anya, who was trying to get the COMM to work resulting with failure. He knew he didn't feel the same way toward Anya, who was more attractive than Ezra was. No, he just was beginning to like this woman more than he should.

It was a couple more minutes until the imulsion had heated up enough to explode, making them all still and forget what they were thinking. It sounded like nothing they had ever witnessed. Metal flew around them, but the cover Anya had chosen was the only thing that saved their lives against it.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I know it has been a long time. I kept going over this chapter for what seemed forever. But here it is. I hope you enjoy. Please read and review to let me know what you think.**

Everything was settling down; the noise of the blazing fire, the metal that had flown about when the Raven exploded, and the dust that swirled through the air. Even the ringing in their ears was settling down, which was a blessing to be honest. Ezra disengaged herself enough from Baird's arms to look from behind the cover to see the damage. She tried to whistle, but instead made a low gurgling noise, which Baird found funny. He laughed at her and she turned to glare daggers at him.

If she could find her voice, she would have told him to shove it. Or to go fuck himself. Either one of those would have worked she supposed. She coughed due to the dust in her throat and the fact that he had choked her earlier. He continue to laugh as she just glared at him all the more.

She for one didn't think it funny at all that she couldn't whistle, and she would expect that he wouldn't find it funny either. He had found it funny though, and oddly enough it hurt her feelings. For it should hurt her feelings because she had made that noise because he had almost killed her. Yet it shouldn't hurt her feelings as much as it did because she was tougher than nails.

She couldn't hide the unshed tears that popped into the corners of her eyes. She started to become angry with herself. She shouldn't want to cry because he had hurt her and then laughed about it. She tried to blink them away as quickly as she could but that only brought more tears to the surface.

She shouldn't want to cry, she should want to punch him in his smug face. Show him that she was tough, even if she couldn't whistle. But then again, it was out of line for him to remotely see the humor in her gurgling noise, just as out of line as it would be to hit him in the face.

Baird realized he was being a horrible person after a few minutes and wiped the smirk off his face immediately and down cast his gaze into her lap. She thought that was better of him and if she could have said so, she would have.

"Piece of shit!" screamed Anya as she threw her broken COMM radio into a stone column four feet away after she had tried for her last damned time to get the thing to work. The thing broke in half on contact, making her instantly feel victorious.

"Baird, try to radio Hoffman in." she said as she stood up and dusted herself of to no avail. With the help of Anya, they moved Ezra off of his lap and into a comfortable position on the ground.

She glared at them both in envy. She wished she had clothing, not the now tattered hospital gown that only seemed cover the areas that she didn't want to share with world. Well it just barely covered those areas that she wanted to hide to the world to be honest.

"Hoffman, come in, this is Baird." he said into his COMM, doing as he was bid. His only response was static. He figured he would have more luck in unicorns and rainbows to communicate with Hoffman than his COMM unit.

He sighed and switched it to another channel. "Hoffman, come in, this is Baird." he said on the new channel. Again his only answer was static. This went on until he had tried all of the channels, but none came with response.

Yes, unicorns and rainbows would be a much better system than these stupid COMMs. He would even bet that the Locusts couldn't interfere with unicorns and rainbows. He sighed, what the hell was he thinking?

"Well at least yours work. Seeders must be jamming the radios." she said as she sat down again but this time next to Ezra.

"That is all we don't need now is damned seeders." said Baird as he looked at Anya with a deep scowl. Anya nodded her agreement and looked around to scope the area.

Nothing was more depressing than looking around and seeing nothing but bleak surroundings. Everything just seemed so dead. Even the things that seemed to be thriving looked dead. It was hard to explain, but it wasn't hard to explain that it depressed her greatly.

It was hard to think about sometimes. What would Sera look like after the war was won? Would they ever rebuild it to its former glory? Would things start to grow again and thrive? Or would they be stuck living in a world of bleakness? Anya sighed and tried not to think about it.

"Now what?" he asked, as he too started looking around.

"Well judging from where we crashed, we are two clicks off course. But my bet is Delta saw us go down. Problem is they can't bring those APC's this way. They are too big, and this ground is too unstable. So we can either wait until they come here on foot, which might take several hours by my estimations. Or we can trek our way to them. I can go for either one, but the problem would be Ezra. She is bleeding on her shoulder, which will stop soon because it isn't so bad but if we were to wait here we decrease the time it takes for infection to get in there. The less she is moved about, the better. If we move, we might get tired quicker. Well you will get tired, seeing how you will have to carry her." said Anya as she looked at Baird.

He sighed loudly as he thought over her words. Ezra stared angrily at Anya. Was she that big of a burden to these people? They might as well left her that day she was dying on the cliff if they thought she was going to be this much of a handful. Or just give her a dmaned courtesy shot to the head already.

Ezra never asked to be saved, in fact she had told them to leave her behind. They were the ones who had come after her, and now they were the ones making her feel like a burden. She would understand if she had asked to be saved, but she hadn't.

She looked over to Baird, her black eyes full of the fire she felt inside. She was infuriated. She didn't ask to be put into their damned company in the first place, and if she was such a big burden they could just leave her ass here. Her mind turned over and over with many angered thoughts, and they seemed as if they weren't going to stop coming anytime soon.

Baird made eye contact with her, which might not have been a safe thing to do. He felt his skin turn chilly under her intense gaze. His eyes softened towards her, hoping that she would take the silent message. But she didn't, she continued to stare at him with a firm frown on her face, and anger in her eyes.

Anya looked away from the two, starting to feel awkward in their company. She felt like she was with two people who had just been in a fight, who were the best of friends, and she was just a new person they had met. That was always the most awkward feeling and she felt it now.

As this was an awkward feeling too. She wasn't sure what she had said to put that look on Ezra's face, but she was sure it wasn't going away anytime soon either.

Ezra turned her eyes away from Baird's to look back at Anya. She had her head turned so she went back to looking at Baird, so she could still direct her anger at someone. It felt awful to know that she felt like she was now a load because she truthfully was.

"Anya, how about you go ahead and hurry and bring them to help. I have some meds in my side pack, so I can try to hold off infection. If you go and bring their help, it might be quicker because you know where we are." he suggested as he looked away from Ezra altogether. It wasn't a good idea though, that he knew, but once he suggested it there was no taking back the words.

One, it didn't make Ezra feel any less of a burden. Two, Anya wouldn't be safe walking around out there without a GEAR to assist her. Anya looked to Baird, knowing too that it was a bad plan. Her face told him how stupid she thought it really was too. He sighed at her and looked away.

"Or you can doctor me, and we can get the hell out of here." wheezed Ezra. Tears spilled down her face as she spoke. The pain in her throat was terrible, and she reached up and gently stroked her throat in hopes that it would ease the pain. She turned her hate filled gaze at Baird again. She had forgiven him, but the pain was too much for her not to still make him feel guilty about the entire ordeal.

Anyways, not just a few minutes ago he had the nerve to laugh at her. So she hoped he felt all sorts of guilty feelings as to what he had done to her.

He frowned at her, feeling the guilt that she was putting on him on purpose. It wasn't like he didn't deserve it, but he wished she didn't have the power over him to make him this much of an emotional roller coaster.

He hadn't know this woman for long, and she wasn't the most attractive woman he had ever seen (even though she was attractive), but he felt something for her. Whether that feeling was just friendship or more was beyond him. It wasn't like it matter though, in moments like these the only thing that mattered was what in the hell they were going to decide to do.

"Baird, let me see your Boltok pistol, I am going to go scope a trail. You hurry and doctor her." said Anya, knowing that she had the better plan. She also couldn't take the awkwardness anymore. She didn't know what was going on between Baird and Morg, but she was sure of one thing, Baird was acting different around this woman. Anya wasn't used to this new behavior coming from him and she wasn't sure that she should be witnessing it to be exact.

It was one of those things that she was sure if she mentioned it to anyone, he would yell that she wasn't supposed to see him acting like a love sick puppy. And Morg she had known for a few years. She was acting different too. At first, Anya had thought maybe it was just the pain she was in, but this woman was acting like she liked that Baird doted on her, and didn't like when he didn't. And that was something Ezra never liked. She was always an independent woman who could fight her own battles. Now she seemed like she didn't mind having Baird help her with everything.

She had even heard a nurse say that she had asked for Baird's help when they were in the hospital. And that was out of Ezra's character. Her independence was why she actually got out there and fought, and didn't have a job like Anya did. Sometimes Anya envied that, but only sometimes. It was moments like these where they were being shot out of the sky that she wished she had a desk job on the ground.

He unholstered his pistol and handed it to Anya. She thanked him before making her escape from the two of them. He gulped loudly as he looked to Ezra. She was still crying after Anya had left. He sighed for he wasn't sure how to make her stop crying, so he did the first thing that came to his mind.

He gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs, after resting his hands on both sides of her face. She closed her eyes, causing more tears to fall, but she had to hide her fear from him that he could have seen in her eyes if they were open. She was realizing that even in war, people could find someone. She didn't love Baird, but it was becoming harder not to really like him. Especially when he was being so tender as to wipe her tears away. She might not have known him long but there was definitely a connection between them, and it scared her more than a rogue boomer.

When she opened her eyes again, they were softer, and red from crying. He sighed as he leaned forward and pulled her into a hug. He didn't know what else to do to comfort her. She sobbed and buried her head into his chest. She had never done this before, and she didn't know how much she really needed to be comforted until she was being held by him.

He rocked her back and forth, whispering how sorry he was, and how everything would be okay. This was the deepest emotional thing she had ever done with anyone. She had never been held like this while crying, and she had never cried like this. She had never admitted before that she was in pain and was scared. She knew that he knew that she was scared, so that was something that she didn't have to admit out loud.

He pushed her back enough so he could see her face. He smiled sweetly down at her, unsure what else to do. He knew after this was all said and done, this would never be spoken about. He also knew that he would always remember this moment for the rest of his life. It was the moment that he realized that even though she was a tough ass woman, she had chosen to show him her softer side. He didn't care if he hadn't known her for long, this was a deep connection they had, even if there was a fight for humanity going on.

He also realized that this woman might very well become his best friend. He considered Cole his best friend, but there would be a big difference for what he felt for her than what he felt for Cole. With Cole he joked, with her he could share anything with her, even his deepest darkest secrets.

"I'm scared," he started, "I am scared that this war will never end. I am scared that I will die in it. I am scared if I do survive it, I will survive it alone. I am afraid to feel that pain that you feel now. I am..."

Her sad smile made him forget what he was trying to say. He knew that everyone shared the same fears. "I am afraid I am just a burden, who should have died a week and two days ago." she wheezed painfully, making more tears spill down her face. It was funny how she only had two clean streaks on her dirty face. He liked this 'warrior who has been crying' look on her face. It made this war almost seem innocent in her face.

"You're not a burden, Ezra." he said. She nodded and smiled at him.

He couldn't help himself anymore. He slowly dipped his head down, wanting to taste her lips with his own. He wanted to soothe her fears and his own, with a kiss. He wanted Sera to melt away into the background and there only to be her and him.

But before he could kiss her Anya returned. Making the somewhat romantic moment more than awkward. Both were caught inches apart, breathing a little heavier, and lips slightly parted in wanting. It took a moment for his head to clear, and for him to back away from her.

He disengaged himself from her hair as well. He hadn't even realized that he had wound his hand tightly into her dirty chestnut hair. Or that her hands where on his chest, with her fingers splayed over his muscles. She also removed herself from him, taking her hands off of him.

He didn't act like this, he wasn't the comforting sensitive boyfriend. But for Ezra, at that moment he had been. She too looked like she was regretting their actions, as much as he did in fact.

Romance wasn't what people found in war, it was hardships and heartbreak. He couldn't allow himself to be a Marcus Fenix, and he was sure Ezra wasn't out looking to be an Anya Stroud. But really would it be so bad to know that when times got rough there would be someone to fall back on to comfort you? It was.

If he happened to fall in love with Ezra he would only get his heart broken again. He knew if he let down his guard again he would want to be with her, and that would mean he would fall in love with her, and then he would lose her.

Like he had lost Gloria. He almost choked when that name popped into his mind. He quickly blocked it in his dark memories as he looked into Ezra's black eyes. Her eyes resembled voids, he realized.

"Hurry and patch her up, I found a trail to the east that will take us up to Delta." she said as she sat back down.

"You know Anya, one night away from Marcus won't kill your ass." he joked harshly, trying to pick on her to make her forget what she had come close to witnessing if she hadn't stepped on a stick.

She rolled her eyes at him. She hated that everyone knew that she loved Marcus, and teased her about it. She glanced over to Ezra who couldn't sit still. She kept fidgeting under Anya's gaze.

"You just want alone time with your girl, Baird." she teased back, it was her way of saying that she was not going to forget what she had almost seen a moment before. Ezra didn't find it funny though. She picked up the nearest thing next to her, which was decent sized rock the size of a woman's fist, and threw it at her. It missed of course but still scared Anya into saying sorry.

Ezra was no one's girl and she made sure that everyone knew that.

None of that was important now. What was important was that she needed to be patched up. Baird untied her hospital gown after he moved to sit behind her. He gave a low whistle at the sight of her bleeding. Her shoulder already looked like it was infected. He took out his medical pack and began to clean the wound.

She gave a sharp intake of breath when he touched an alcohol pad to her wound. It stung and the more he wiped at her wound, the more she wanted to cry. She found something nearby to grip tightly, and it ended up being Anya's leg.

Anya yelped in pain as Ezra dug her nails into the sensitive flesh of Anya's thigh. Once finished with that he put some salve to it and dressed the wound. As he finished, she finally let go of Anya's leg, which made the woman sigh heavily.

"Well looks like we need to get going." Anya said as she watched Baird start to retie her gown and as she rubbed her thigh in hopes that would ease the pain she felt. One thing was for certain, Ezra had an iron grip on her.

xxxxxxxxxx

"I hate not having my computer." muttered Anya as she secured herself in the cover she had found to stay away from the line of fire. They had been pushing hard for no longer than an hour before they happened over a Locust squad, with a boomer in tow to make matters worse for the three of them.

The only thing she was armed with was the Boltok pistol that she had borrowed from Baird earlier. Everyone thought that she was only a desk job in the COG, but she was a hell of a shot with a Boltok pistol in hand. She peaked around the corner and aimed at the boomer.

Baird and Ezra took on the grubs, and she was to kill the boomer with the pistol since it had the power to do so without wasting too many bullets. After taking a moment to aim, trying to ignore the chaos around her, she fired.

The first bullet embedded itself into its neck. The boomer shook its massive head like it just was bitten by a fly, even though thick red blood squirted from the hole in its neck. She re-hid herself when the boomer looked around for where the shot had come from. She hid a few minutes, to allow time for the boomer to forget her, and for the wound on its neck to really do some good bleeding.

She looked around the cover again, took aim, breathed, and then squeezed the trigger, just like her mother had showed her to do. The second bullet landed itself in the side of the boomer's face, rattling off its teeth, breaking them in the process. It grunted stupidly and turned back to her and fired its Boomshot. She hid just in time to avoid the rocket that was flying at her.

It was another few minutes until she repeated the routine, for she needed to give herself a moment to let her nerves settle. She reminded herself again to ask for a raise, and make sure to always stay behind her desk. She couldn't handle this sort of stress.

The last bullet plunged into the boomer's temple, killing it instantly. The boomer locked up, all its muscles tensing at once. It fell to the ground with a loud thud, as soon as Baird dropped the last grub.

Anya's chest swelled with pride. That had been the first boomer she had ever killed. "Feels nice, don't it?" asked Baird as he looked up at Anya from his post on the ground next to Ezra. Anya smiled widely, feeling exhilarated. Maybe she could handle this stress.

Anya nodded and tried to hide the fact that she was shaking with excitement from her first kill, as well as a little fear. She had killed grubs, and a few wretches, but never a boomer. It was something she couldn't wait to tell Marcus. In fact she couldn't wait to see him again.

Their relationship was odd, but she wanted to see him as soon as she could so she could gloat that she, Anya Stroud, had killed a boomer. A huge grin lit her features, and Ezra chuckled at her. "You might make GEAR some day if you keep that up." Ezra wheezed, poking fun at Anya, but then regretted speaking because of her throat. Anya made a face at the other woman, making Ezra and Baird both chuckle at her.

"I swear one day, when you really are relying on my information, I am going to get you two back. One minute you're safe, and the next I will have your asses walking straight into a grub hole. Just remember that." she said with a smile. She was starting to feel more comfortable around the two of them, since it had been an hour since she almost caught them kissing.

She wondered if she hadn't interrupted them would they actually had gone through with it. She cursed herself for interrupting. But then again she still had gossip on them. All she would have to say is 'I caught them about to kiss' and she would have them being gossiped about as much as her and Marcus. But she wasn't that kind of person so she forgot the notion to want to tell everyone.

She would tell Marcus, and would it really be her fault if he told anyone else? No, problem solved. She would tell Marcus and he would then tell everyone else. She then scowled, one flaw in her plan: Marcus barely spoke to anyone outside of Delta squad.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Here is the next chapter. Just want to say I just beat GOW3 and I seriously cried. SERIOUSLY! If you don't have it yet, go get it. I loved it, and I think it is the best game I have played from the Gears Franchise. I hope you guys like this chapter. I am sorry for the delay, have life going on lol. I did want to say I understand that there are a lot of you who really enjoy the first one, but seriously I am asking you guys not to pound it into my head. Take this chapter for instance: the original was only around 1500 words, the new one is nearly 3500. That is a big difference. I am trying to give you guys a better feel for all the characters, and I am just trying to better the story. I like the rewrite better. So from now on I am no longer going to respond to people who email me about the original. I do not think in any way that you guys are being rude/flamers, I just get tired of having to explain the same thing over and over again when I have already explained it. I have explained in the ANs that I was not happy with the original so please quit messaging me about how "the original was great the way it was and why did I need to change it?". All I can say is that it is my story and I thought there was a lot that I wanted to make better. Hopefully you guys can start seeing the character development better than before. And not just with my OC but with all the characters. So please enjoy!**

It took the three of them two hours to find their way halfway back to where they were before Delta squad intercepted them. It was a good thing too. Baird was nearing exhaustion, but didn't want to say anything. She knew though, she could tell from his labored breathing that he tried to hide, and the way he tensed with every step he took. She lay her head against his shoulder and wished that she could just walk by herself. This was humiliating because she was not used to being helped by others, and she knew that she owed this man a lot now that he had helped her.

It was a miracle that it hadn't taken longer for them to find their way back. They had crashed so far off course that they couldn't even see the smoke from the burning raven in the air anymore from their current location.

"What are you doing Baird? Giving out free piggy back rides?" asked Cole once he saw his friend with SSgt Morg on his back, as if he were a pack mule. She tensed at Cole's words which made Baird slow his pace in concern.

It was a funny sight though; it would have made a picture perfect moment with two lovers, but they weren't lovers so it was just funny. That and the fact that both of them wore solemn looks on their dirty faces just made the moment all the more priceless to Cole. She clung to his back with her arms wrapped around his neck securely, and her legs were being supported by his arms. Her head rested on his shoulder because she was so tired as well that she couldn't even bring herself to hold her head up anymore.

She blushed and slid off him quickly so she could adjust the gown before they got near her to see that her ass was hanging out of the back. She swayed though when her feet touched ground and she anchored herself to his back. When they were walking and it was just Baird, Anya, and herself, she had not minded that half of her butt was hanging out through the slit in the gown.

Now though, she was so embarrassed that she wished she had died when the helicopter went down. She silently cursed them for cutting her clothes off that day to save her life. She would have rather of died than be faced with this embarrassment. Her cheeks burned red and she did well to try to hide her face for a moment behind him until her skin tone evened out.

"Yeah, you want one asshole?" spat Baird tiredly at his best friend. He had been carrying her for two hours and he was more than tired. She wasn't heavy, but one could only carry someone so long before they wanted to drop to the ground and scream in agony. A silent thanks escaped his lips now that he did not have to carry her any longer. He had been so close to doing just that; falling the ground and screaming in agony from his muscles over exerting.

Ezra looked at him, and he looked away quickly. The expression on her face was one of confusion and question. He didn't know how to act around her now either. One, he was attracted to her and almost acting on that when he almost kissed her. Two, he was angry that he had to carry her so long, even though that was not her fault.

It wasn't her fault that she was in the condition she was in but he couldn't help but think that it was somehow her fault that he had almost kissed her. Ezra was becoming a big burden on him, even though he had told her that she wasn't a burden, in reality, she was. She was a bigger burden on him than he really realized. He just kept saying he was lonely and that was why he felt the way he did, but he doubted it.

There was no doubt that he was lonely. Everyone was lonely during these times of war. That wasn't the reason that he found himself drawn to her. He knew it was because he was growing fond of her in the short amount of time that he had met her.

These past several days have not been the happiest he had ever been, but they were happier than he was before they found her. So now he admitted to himself that he was beginning to get a soft spot for the woman. Yet that didn't stop him from knowing that she was a pain in his ass.

She was a huge burden to him for several different reasons. Yet despite the fact that he was growing fond of her, the biggest reason was because of her current condition. His muscles would testify for him in this case. He found himself taking care of her which in the long run was running him down. He needed to take care of himself, not her. Having her back in a fight was a different thing than having her on his back for two hours because she couldn't fend for herself.

Ezra opened her mouth to say something to him but then shut it. She knew what they had shared two or three hours ago would not be mentioned, but she wanted that moment again. She really cursed Anya for interrupting because now she felt lost. She wanted to be back there in the rubble where Baird had comforted her. Not here where she was having a hard time standing without a hand on Baird's shoulder, in front of the Delta Squad again.

_Get a grip Ezra_. This was reality, and this reality they were at war. There was no time for tears, love, or anything other than fighting for your life tooth and nail. Maybe after they weren't trying to rip the Locust Horde she could think of such trivial things as relationships. Now the only thing that mattered was the fact that she needed to get well so she could get back to active duty.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had let herself go back there to relive the memory to sate herself. Then she needed to find herself quickly before she became too lost in the memories.

Afterwards she pushed those thoughts to the furthest part of her mind where she stored all her bad memories in hopes she would forget about them. She opened her eyes and looked at Baird; who was sharing a private joke with Cole. Her chest constricted and her face twisted angrily. This whole forgetting thing was going to be easier said than actually done. How could she forget when he was standing right next to her? She was going to have to be around this man from this moment on almost every single day.

She had a weaker soul than she thought she had. It was not that she had wanted any of this to happen, yet it did. And she was going to have to suffer everyday near him while trying to forget what they had almost shared. She narrowed her eyes and her body quivered just like the ground did right before an E-hole appeared. Weak… She needed to move on and stop setting herself up for failure. This was not the first time she had been in a near situation as this; this had almost happened to her once before several years ago. Then she had been able to turn a cheek to it and was over it in a matter of moments. It had been two hours and it was as if it was burned into her flesh. She should be used to knowing that she should not let herself open to what had almost happened. It seemed that it didn't stop her though.

One could not help but wonder about the reasons she could not forget. It was not love she was feeling, that she knew. It was something along the lines of a crush or even infatuation with the idea that there could be love there. It was a cruel joke though to think those things.

War and love did not mix well, just looking at Marcus and Anya could attest to that, they never had any time to one another. It was hard knowing the truth about them. Knowing that they loved each other so much, but every moment that was spent together was talking about war. Maybe Anya was a stronger woman than Ezra. Or maybe she was stupider. Ezra wasn't sure as to what the answer was, she thought it was actually stronger. Anya loved Marcus and she would fight alongside him to survive together. Ezra admired that even though she wouldn't say it out loud.

She knew that wanted to fight alongside someone just like Anya, but she couldn't. She felt herself wanting to ignore it. That would be terribly dangerous for the both of them if she ignored it.

What did she hear someone say once? _Loneliness is the worst disease to die of_? She could almost swear she could see the Gear that had said it, but it seemed a lifetime ago that those words had been uttered. In the wake of them though she could see the Gear had been right. It is a terrible disease that eats at the heart, brain, and soul worse than any bullet could.

Finally he turned back to look at her. His face was stern with a firm frown on his face, and his ice colored blue eyes cold towards her.

"Let me help you," he said as he went to pick her up. His strong hands grabbed at her shoulders, but she stepped back uneasily due to her injuries. She shied away from him though letting go of him and stumbling a few paces away when he went to grab her again. She turned her eyes to the nearest person which happened to be Dom.

"You are tired. I am sure Dom can help me," she said as she gazed at Dom in hopes that he would help her instead of Baird. She stared at Dom for a few moments refusing to make eye contact with Baird, hoping that would help her bury the memories if she didn't look into his eyes.

Dom turned when he heard his name. "Could you help me so Baird can have a break from me?" she asked in a mere whisper. He nodded to her and smiled as if nothing made him happier to assist. That warmed her a little and a small smile tugged at her lips. The smile disappeared when she got a good look at Dom.

Dom's smile was all knowing, and that unnerved her. She would have been better off just letting Baird help her, but she didn't want to feel his touch, or his comfort. With Dom though she knew she was going to have to speak about what had happened. She needed to take a breather from Baird though so she could get her mind back in check, find her bearings in this sea that threatened to drown her. That knowing smile that Dom wore scared her. She wouldn't get a breather, she realized. She would get cold reality that would hurt worse than the making of her forming scars.

"Shit," she muttered as Dom came to stand next to her. No one heard her, which she was thankful for. Dom put a hand on her elbow to steady her as she swayed to the side.

"Have it your way," said Baird and he looked at Dom crossly. She missed the look that Baird gave Dom, but Dom had seen it. That look spoke more volumes than the expression she had worn on her face. Dom was correct in his accusations that the two of them were fond of each other.

She glanced at Baird as he turned away from her and strode in the other direction. He was following Cole as he started to show them the way back to the APC.

"It won't kill you," whispered Dom as he picked her up bridal style, careful of her stitches and tattered gown. She was surprised when he did this, she figured he would just carry her on his back, and it took her a moment before she responded to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered back at him as she kept her eyes to Baird's back.

He had broad shoulders, and she couldn't help but wonder what he may have looked like without a shirt. She found herself breathless for a moment as she let her mind wander. A sigh left her lips, and she didn't realize until it was too late that it was one of those dreamy sighs that she hadn't since she was a damned kid. Yes, it was going to be much harder for her to forget about Baird.

"You are fond of him," he said as he started to walk behind the rest of Delta squad, but out of earshot. She turned her head to look at Dom's dark brown eyes. His eyes held so many emotions that it scared her nearly out of her skin.

There was a deep pain, undying love, righteous hate, and a lot of other wild emotions clashing behind his gaze. This was a man who never gave up on the love for his wife. He searched her out in these times of war, only to have to put a bullet in her head to save her. This man had to put his wife out of her misery, because in reality she no longer lived. She suddenly felt the weight of the decision he made bear down on her.

She realized that he had to live with the fact he killed his wife everyday of his life, but not only did he live with that guilt. She realized he lived with the question on if he hadn't taken her life would there have been any way for him to correct the torture that the Locust had lent her. Would there have been anyway that his Maria could have been the Maria she was before the war? Would there have been any way that he could have gone back to his life the way it was before E-Day if he hadn't of killed her?

She understood then that Dom would give anything to have his wife back. She understood that Dom would jump on the chance to bask in the glory of her love again. That was why he said that to her. But what Dom didn't understand was that she didn't want to love again and have to make the same decisions all again. The heart was too frail to live through this much loss. Or was it stronger than she thought?

Tears came to her black eyes. "I am fond of him," she admitted finally. Once she did it felt like a dead weight was lifted from her entire body. Admittance out loud got rid of a lot of pressure that she felt.

He watched as her eyes eased gently. He was glad to see her relax. "See, I told you it wouldn't kill you," he said with a sad smile. It hurt her to see Dom like this, but she felt warm in his company.

She smiled back and stated, "Okay, you were right, it hasn't killed me, yet."

"And it won't. There is no reason to fear fondness or even, one day, love," he said. But then the thought hit her that she almost uttered aloud. It would kill her if she fell in love, and the same thing happened to Baird that had happened to Maria. That would kill her, like it had killed a part of Dom. At that moment she wanted to hug Dom and tell him that she was sorry. She didn't though.

She leaned forward in his grasp and kissed his cheek instead. He closed his eyes and let the warmth of her kiss sink in. She would never know how much Dom needed that little bit of compassion that she had shown him. She leaned back and smiled at him and he returned her smile.

She looked away from Dom to Baird's back again. She was fond of that man, and according to Dom it wouldn't kill her to be fond of or even one day love him. She made a face at the thought of love. She had only been in love once and that was before this war. That love at torn her in two, and in all honesty she was afraid it would do it again. She already had pieces of her that had died because of it. She was sure she would die for good if she loved again and her loved one died.

Tears slowly spilled down her face as dark memories surfaced. She didn't bury them. She just let them play their course in her mind. It was times like these that she was tired of burying her memories in that darkest part of her mind. It ate away at her soul when she didn't let them take their course over her.

After reliving those dark memories she felt herself become cold again. She was SSgt Ezra Morg, and she was fond of no one. She had one purpose in life; kill the Locust Horde. It was her job to make them pay for all the loved ones that she had lost. Her eyes narrowed and her brows drew together in anger. It was a sudden change, she knew this, but it helped make her decision.

Not fall in love and live happily ever after because there could be no happily ever after when she still had a score to settle. She gave Baird one last longing glance, and then buried the emotions that she felt for him with her bad memories in that darkest part of her mind where hopefully they would be forever forgotten.

She wanted to give Dom the satisfaction of seeing her fall for Baird but for herself, she couldn't. Dom was in a way very wrong because he didn't know her. She had lost everything she loved one time and she knew she couldn't do it again. The only thing that kept her going everyday was the need to kill. The need to wear the blood of her enemies was what fueled her this entire time, and it would keep fueling her.

She had to finish exacting her revenge on the Horde before she could ever hope to have a love life or even a normal life for that matter. She would never be normal though. She would be too scarred, just like her body. If she were too scarred to be normal she would be too scarred to love again, that was her conclusion.

"If that is how you feel, but I wouldn't suggest it. War gets really lonely," said Dom since he was a first hand example of that loneliness. She looked at him confused, it was as if he was that Gear from her past that had uttered nearly the same thing. "It is written all over your face. You want to try and get to know him, but you won't let yourself," he said sadly.

She sighed and looked away. Dom was too wise for his own good sometimes. "You aren't the only one who has lost people they have loved. Don't be so selfish," he whispered as he slowed his pace to adjust her weight in his arms.

He was right though. She wasn't the only person who has lost people she had loved. And most of all: She was being selfish. That knowledge though didn't change her mind from keeping herself guarded from now on. She wanted to just get well so she could finish what she had started.

Every Locust she killed brought her a little bit closer to being able to live with her loss. Everyone of those bastards she wanted dead and she didn't care if it took her until her last breath to try and put a bullet into as many as she could.

She was Ezra Morg and the vengeance she sought would be hers.


End file.
